Travelling Together to the City (Song 3:6-11)

The link between this poem and the previous one is the role of the watchmen, the individuals who guarded the city and who also were on the lookout for individuals or groups approaching the city. In the previous poem, they gave guidance to the woman as she searched for the King. In this poem, they describe the arrival of a carriage and also encourage the daughters of Zion to go and meet the carriage. This does not mean that they are watchmen in the same place, merely that there are watchmen in both poems.

The question arises, who is in the carriage? Obviously, Solomon is in the carriage. Is anyone else in it? We should assume that his bride is in it because he has just come from his wedding. So it looks that we have here is a carriage surrounded by suitable guards making its way to the city of Jerusalem. Inside the carriage are Solomon and the one he loves. That is the picture. Of course, it cannot be a description of a literal wedding because that would suggest that the inhabitants of the city could only do this once, if it was a literal event.

The poem has three divisions. In verse 6, there is a question, perhaps asked by onlookers on the city walls. Then an answer is given in verses 7-10, perhaps by watchmen who recognised who was coming. Thirdly, an exhortation is addressed to the daughters of Zion to observe closely the King as he travels.

The direction in which they are travelling (vv. 6-8)

In the poem, the party are travelling from the wilderness to the city. The King must have gone from the city into the wilderness to find his bride. Now he is coming back to the city with her. It is not too difficult to see the application for us. The king of Zion left the city and travelled to the wilderness of this world to find his people. He does this through the gospel, and we have pictures of this in the parable of the lost sheep. When he finds them, he is very happy.

Now they are journeying together towards the city. They are still in the wilderness, and the wilderness is not a pleasant place. It would be very hot and various unwelcome smells would be all around. The way that such would be overcome would be by the presence of various fragrances, such as are described in verse 6. A procession would normally be led by two men holding poles on which there would be bowls of fragrances.

As far as travelling with the King in the Christian life is concerned, the fragrances are provided free by the heavenly merchant, the Holy Spirit.  In fact, the Spirit is present in all the fragrances. This is true of the King, who in his human nature has beautiful fragrances, or the fruit of the Spirit, in perfect balance and degree. And it is true of the bride as well, even although she is still sinful, although forgiven. Yet because she is in the company of the fragrant King, she becomes like him because the Holy Spirit is working towards that end.

The striking thing about the fragrances is that they are visible from a distance away. Those looking out from the city can see them. Elsewhere they see the wilderness, but in strong contrast to the ugly wilderness they see and smell the beauty of the carriage in which the King and his beloved are travelling. 

Moreover, they see that round the carriage are sixty chosen soldiers, the best in the business. The reason why they were required was because the wilderness is a place of danger. Solomon would have many enemies, and they would have become the bride’s enemies when she became his. These guards are depicted as constant and competent in their roles.

Surely we can see in them a picture of the angelic host who minister to the heirs of salvation. The angels do the bidding of Jesus and his will for them is that they look after his people. They can protect them when it is most dangerous, even as the poem says against the terror of the night. And these guards will be there all the way through the wilderness.

The carriage (vv. 9-10)

The carriage is what conveys the King and his bride to the city. It was built mainly by Solomon, apart from a small contribution by the daughters of Jerusalem. Four materials of the carriage are told to us. First, it was made of special wood – the cedars of Lebanon – known for its resilience; second, it had silver posts over which the curtains of the carriage were hung and silver points to strength; third, between the posts were sheets of gold and this served the purpose of protection since weapons and arrows and spears could not pierce it; fourth, there was a special seat made of purple, the kind of seat on which only royalty would sit.

So the carriage depicts something that is enduring, strong, indestructible and royal. Moreover, it is exceptionally valuable. I suspect that the carriage depicts the church of Jesus, and it is in the church that Jesus and the believer travel safely together through this world. The church will last, it will prove indestructible, its members are all royalty, and its value is beyond price. It is good to belong to the true church of Jesus.

Mention is made of the contribution of the daughters of Jerusalem. They would have sown flowers or other figures, including words, on to the curtains and seat of the carriage. Whatever they provided would have been for the comfort and well-being of the bride. We could imagine how the woman here would feel very unworthy in the company of the King. As she did so, she would spot some of the items drawn or written by the daughters of Jerusalem, reminding her that the King had chosen her because he loved her and was delighted to be in her company, and was determined to be with her forever.

It is not too difficult to make applications to ourselves. We can contribute to one another as we travel through life with the King. In our interactions, we provide the equivalents of what the daughters of Jerusalem provided. The list of such things is endless – words describing the King, words comforting other believers, words spoken to the King about one another. Doing something good for one another, we can say. It is all part of the carriage, of the church of Jesus.

The exhortation

The watchmen on the city walls address the daughters of Zion to look at their happy King. The question arises: who are the daughters of Zion and in which city do they live? We could assume that they are the same group as the daughters of Jerusalem, the friends of the bride. Yet given the imagery I think the city here points to the heavenly city, and what we have here in picture form is some of the residents looking over the city wall and watching others make the journey. So I don’t think they are the same group as the daughters of Jerusalem who made the embroideries on the carriage.

Contrary to earthly weddings, the inhabitants of Zion are urged to look at the Husband rather than the bride. Of course, they are asked to do it together because the sight is of great interest to them. They are asked to look at two things about the King – his crown and his happiness.

We know that in Solomon’s own case his mother Bathsheba had to take steps to ensure he had the crown of his father David. So I suspect the reference to her is a reminder that Solomon had a legitimate right to the crown and all others were frauds. And we know that Jesus is the only One with a legitimate right to the throne of heaven. It is his by eternal possession and it is also his because it is the reward of his amazing work that he performed in order to bring about salvation.

Moreover, we can say that his crown is marked by liberating power. It is true that he possesses all power, but one of the main reasons that he possesses it is to set his people free from the bondage of sin. An example of that is given in the poem itself. And in addition we can say that the crown he possesses is also a lasting one, that it will be his forever. And we are asked to look at his crown because it is legitimate, liberating and lasting.

The other aspect on which the daughters of Zion are to fix their gaze is on the happiness of the King as he travels with each of his people through the wilderness to the heavenly city. Of course, there will be great joy when they reach the city and we can imagine the pleasure of Jesus when that happens. Still, there is a special focus on the love he enjoys displaying now as he and they get closer to the city. I suppose we could say that there is the love of purchase (he redeemed her), there is the love of presence (he loves to be with her), there is the love of progress (he sees his likeness increasing in her as time goes on), and there is the love of prospect (he anticipated glory with them when he prayed for them in John 17).

It is amazing that heaven is interested in what Jesus is doing for his church on earth. Of course, they don’t have the interest of mere curiosity. They know that part of his heavenly glory concerns what he is doing by his Spirit throughout the earth. Often they have seen the King find a sinner, carry a sinner through life, and bring a sinner home. And throughout it all, they have observed the joy of Jesus.

Still the focus here is on the love he felt on his wedding, which in the poem took place in the wilderness. Even although some time has passed since the moment of conversion, which may be the wedding, he has not lost the preciousness of that time. Unlike us, we might say, Jesus never loses his first love.