And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven in its clearness.
All Commentaries on Exodus 24:10 Go To Exodus 24
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Moses, of course, might be thought to have seen God with bodily eyes, if not only the Wisdom of God which is Christ but even the wisdom itself … [which] can be seen with the eyes of the flesh, or because it is written of the elders of Israel that “they beheld the place where the God of Israel had stood” and that there was “under his feet as it were a work of sapphire stone and a likeness of the firmament of heaven.” We might therefore be led to imagine that the Word and the Wisdom of God, who extends from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly, stood in his own substance within the space of an earthly place. And thus the Word of God, through whom all things were made, is thought changeable so that now he draws himself together and now he expands. May God cleanse the hearts of his faithful from such thoughts! But, as we have often declared, all these visible and tangible signs were displayed through a creature that has been made subject, in order to signify the invisible and intelligible God, not only the Father but also the Son and the Holy Spirit, from whom are all things, through whom are all things, and in whom are all things. Since the creation of the world, the invisible attributes of God, his everlasting power also and divinity, are seen, being understood through the things that are made. .
