what does the double cube altar symbolise in the royal arch and do writers agree on it

Explanations of the double cube pedestal vary across ritual addresses and symbolic commentaries, showing no single uniform interpretation.

Official explanations given during the presentation of the Supreme Grand Chapter certificate describe the double cube pedestal as representing Heaven and Earth, as the West Lancashire Freemasons website notes. In the ritual text of the Exaltation ceremony itself, the block of white marble pedestal is described as wrought in the form of the altar of incense, a double cube, according to the West Lancashire Freemasons site. An article on The Masonic Trowel notes that while its exact historical origin in the ritual remains unknown, this double cube altar of incense finds an important counterpart in the Holy Place of the Temple.

Writers and ritual addresses also explain the double cube as a cosmological emblem representing the immensity of space, extending from the base of the earth at its lower square to the zenith of the heavens at its upper square, as an article on the West Lancashire Freemasons site outlines. Under this view, the form marks the progression from the material world to the spiritual realm.

Philosophical commentators assign further mystical readings to the form. Walter Leslie Wilmshurst sees the central cubical focus on the floor as the resting place of the Sacred and Ineffable Name, symbolizing the descent of the high central Light into the transient material organism 1. Arthur Edward Waite treats the double cube altar under two aspects: macrocosmically as the universe containing divine immanence, and microcosmically as the physical body of man concealing a divine nature 3. On broader historical origins, Albert Mackey records Oliver's account of the double cube altar of Apollo at Delphi, though he cautions that ancient classical traditions aimed to double an altar's volume rather than merely double its linear edge 2.

The double cube pedestal is explicitly described across several Royal Arch lectures. A paper read before the Lodge notes that in the Royal Arch Mystical Lecture, the pedestal or altar in the vault is described as wrought in the form of the altar of incense, being a double cube, with white representing innocence and gold symbolizing purity.

The Symbolic or Jewel Lecture similarly depicts the pedestal of pure white marble as the altar of incense in the form of a true double cube, serving as an emblem of innocence and purity, according to a paper read before the Lodge.

In Scottish Royal Arch Lectures, Lecture III defines the double cube shape of the altar of incense as a superlative type of the purity, excellence, and durability of divine power, as recorded in a paper read before the Lodge.