In this eastern front of the Temple is an open and ornamented door-way, 46 feet wide and 128 feet in height. The architect of this edifice was a man of skill. He knew well the powerful effect produced by the prevalence of high ascending lines in a building, and in the Temple he has taken advantage of this effect, and with the best results. How fine is the appearance of this grand and lofty door-way, open also so as to give a view of the rich vestibule just within! Our thoughts and our feelings, whatever they may be, are not checked at the very threshhold, but are allowed to penetrate to a short distance; they are not excluded from the edifice; they enter sufficiently to make us a part of it; and yet it is not made common by being all exposed; sufficient of it remains shut up to excite our wonder, to cherish feelings of respect, to inspire that awe which arises from mystery. He who may enter this lofty door-way, will find himself in a vestibule at right angles with his path; it is 36 feet wide, 92 in length, and 164 feet in height. The wall in front of him is all covered with plates of gold, which, like that on the exterior front, is in various forms, smooth and highly burnished, or in patterns of embossed work, or in figures of various kinds. From the lofty ceiling, which the eye is pained in attempting to reach, hangs down a golden vine, with leaves and fruit of the same metal, and so colossal are its dimensions, that the clusters of grapes are six feet in length.[68] Our foot may not be placed within this vestibule; but through the large open door-way we can discover much of the splendor by which it is distinguished. In the golden wall that bounds our vision at its further side, is a door-way twenty-nine feet wide by 100 in height, covered by a Babylonian curtain, of blue and scarlet and purple, richly embroidered, and of wonderful workmanship. Its ample folds conceal a door, which, like the wall, is covered with plates of gold, plain or in various patterns, and of exceeding richness.