‘Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant? Behold, it is the litter of Solomon, Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty men of Israel. They all handle the sword, And are expert in war, Every man has his sword on his thigh, Because of fear in the night.'
It is possible that we are to see this as general question which the singers and hearers are to answer themselves as they sing the song, although it could be the voices of the daughters of Jerusalem. Coming from the wilderness (compare Song of Solomon 8:5) the bride arrives at Jerusalem in splendid procession, borne by ‘the litter of Solomon' and accompanied by King Solomon in his palanquin. The pillars of smoke represent the myrrh and frankincense being released as a sign of rejoicing. No expense is being spared to make the occasion memorable. The bride too is fully perfumed and prepared, for she is the king's bride. And the litter is surrounded and guarded by the king's friends, sixty mighty men of valor, all skilled swordsmen and experts in war, and fully armed against the danger of an attack by night. The sixty emphasizes the splendor of the marriage. It is twice the number of David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8-39) and twice the number of friend's of the bridegroom at Samson's wedding (Judges 14:11).
The idea that God would establish His people in Zion/Jerusalem if they proved worthy is constant in the prophets. And for a long time it was the hope of Israel. But in the end they proved unworthy and the earthly Jerusalem was rejected (Matthew 23:38), and then the focus turned to the new bride (Matthew 21:43; and onto the heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22).
What a change has now taken place for the bride. She is ‘perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant.' She is saturated in the righteousness of Christ, and giving off a sweet savor of righteousness, for He has been made to her righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30) while she has been made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). She has been endowed with all the beauty of His holiness. And she is carried in His litter, safe from the dangers of the night and guarded closely by the mightiest of the mighty men.
While this may certainly in one sense be seen as a preview of the marriage of the bride and the Lamb which will take place at the consummation (Revelation 19:7-9; Revelation 21:1-2), it also represents the experience of every Christian at the moment when they come to Christ (although some may not recognize it). For in that moment they are made His for ever, and made fit to be His bride (Romans 7:4; Ephesians 5:25-27). They are ‘perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant.' They are raised with Christ and made to sit with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), in His litter. They are transported in splendor into the very heart of His kingdom (Colossians 1:13). They travel from thenceforward under the escort of a powerful armed guard (Hebrews 1:14 with 2 Kings 6:17). Those who are of the true Israel are achieving their destiny. The final marriage will be but the icing on the cake, incorporating the whole of the bride whose numbers have by then been made up. But we who are His are to see ourselves as married to Him even now (Romans 7:4), and so as having available to us all the riches of His grace (Ephesians 2:7) so that we might enjoy His blessings to the full (Ephesians 1:3).