Song of Solomon 5:10-16 "My beloved is white and ruddy,
The chiefest among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold,
His locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters,
Washed with milk, and fitly set.
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers:
His lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl:
His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold:
His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
His mouth is most sweet:
Yea, He is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."

This glorious imagery can alone apply to Christ. It is His perfections that pass before us here. He alone is "white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand." Whatever others may be, He is the "chiefest." However many there may be, He is "the chiefest among ten thousand."

His divine majesty passes before us in the head as the most fine gold.

His locks are flowing and black, betokening the vigor of manhood. No white hair, no trace of age or decay will ever pass on Him. Where all grows old, He never grows old. His years shall never fail.

His eyes, as the eyes of doves, speak of His tender compassion. "Washed with milk" speaks of purity. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." "Fitly set" speaks of the perfection of His vision before whom "all things are naked and open."

The cheeks speak of beauty and attractiveness. The world saw no beauty in Christ, and smote Him on the cheek. Judas professed attraction to Christ but only to betray Him by kissing Him on the cheek. The believer, on the other hand, can delight in the beauty and attractiveness of Christ as a bed of fragrant roses calls forth the admiration of the passerby.

His lips are likened to lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. The lily may speak of purity and the sweet-smelling myrrh of grace. Isaiah had to confess he was a man of unclean lips, but the lips of Christ were pure; no guile was found in His mouth. Of Christ it could be said, "Grace is poured into Thy lips." As He passed through this world, words of grace ever dropped from His lips like sweet-smelling myrrh.

His hands are likened to rings set with beryl. The ring is the emblem of authority (Genesis 41:42; Esther 3:10), and the token of love (Luke 15:22). Man expressed his hatred to Christ by nailing His hands of love to a cross. The believer delights to recognize that all power is in the hands of Christ, moved only by His great love.

His belly, or body, is likened to bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. The whiteness and smoothness of the ivory may indicate the perfection of Christ without blemish or spot, and the sapphires the preciousness of Christ. Peter presents this twofold view of Christ when in one place he speaks of Him as "without blemish and without spot" and in another writes, "Unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious" (1 Peter 1:19; 2:7).

His legs as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold, speak of the stability and strength of purpose that ever marked the Lord Jesus. The base of fine gold indicates that all the steadfastness and strength of Christ had its foundation in divine righteousness.

His countenance or "bearing" signifies "not the face only but the entire aspect." It is likened to Lebanon, a figure which brings before us the excellence and dignity of Christ.

His mouth is most sweet. In the imagery of the song, it is the kiss rather than speech that is connected with "the mouth." This clause in the bride's glowing description would therefore serve to set forth the sweetness of the love of Christ.

"He is altogether lovely." In Christ we have a perfect object, One who is altogether lovely. Here the heart can rest with satisfaction. His whole being is majestic. Each of the redeemed can say of Christ, "He is my Beloved, He is my Friend" even while they unite to sing—

"Join all the glorious names Of wisdom, love and power, That mortals ever knew, That angels ever bore; All are too mean to speak His worth, Too mean to set the Saviour forth."

—Hamilton Smith