Ezekiel 4:1

(Chapter 4, Verses 1-2.) And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself and set it before you, and portray on it the city of Jerusalem. Build siege works against it, build a siege mound against it, raise a ramp against it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around. As we have said before, go inside and enclose it in the midst of your house; and behold, ropes will be put on you, and you will be bound, and you shall not go out.

"And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, and place it before you, and draw upon it the city of Jerusalem." In these words, indeed, what else is designated according to history but the siege and destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and what else is expressed but the affliction of a sinful people? It is called a provoking house. From this we are instructed that when we know one thing is fulfilled according to history, and we recognize another thing according to history to be empty of reason, we should hold to both in the sacred word, so that we may believe the siege of Jerusalem, which was later accomplished according to the letter, to be prefigured in the words and deeds of the prophet, and yet through that same siege another siege, that is, an interior one, may be designated. But first we must inquire why the prophet Ezekiel, whenever he beholds sublime things or whenever he is commanded to perform something mystical, is first called "son of man." For often he is lifted up to heavenly things, and his mind is fed on hidden and invisible realities. It is therefore necessary that among the hidden things which he penetrates, he be called "son of man," so that he may always recognize what he is and never be exalted because of those things to which he is led. For what does it mean to always say "son of man" to a prophet lifted up to spiritual things, except to make him mindful of his own weakness? So that, conscious of his frail condition, he ought not to be elevated in thought because of the greatness of his contemplation. Because this same prophet, as we have already said above, holds the type of preachers or teachers, it is rightly said to him now: "Take for yourself a brick, and you shall place it before you." For every teacher, when he receives some earthly hearer for instruction in the heavenly word, takes up a brick. […]

Some things, however, ought to be reproved strongly, so that when a fault is not recognized by the one who has committed it, he may be made aware of its gravity by verbal reproof, or when anyone glosses over an evil that he has perpetrated, he may be led by the harshness of his censure to entertain grave fears of its effects on him. For indeed it is the duty of a ruler to show by the voice of preaching the glory of our heavenly country, to disclose what great temptations of the old enemy are lurking in this life's journey, and to correct with zealous harshness such evils among those who are under his sway that should not be gently borne with, lest, in being too little incensed against such faults, he himself be held guilty of all faults.

It was Jerusalem's honour that while she kept her integrity God had graven her upon the palms of his hands ( Isa. xlix. 16 ), and the names of the tribes were engraven in precious stones on the breast-plate of the high priest; but, now that the faithful city has become a harlot, a worthless brittle tile or brick is thought good enough to portray it upon.

A tile - Rather, a brick. Sun-dried or kiln-burned bricks were from very early times used for building walls throughout the plain of Mesopotamia. The bricks of Nineveh and Babylon are sometimes stamped with what appears to be the device of the king in whose reign they were made, and often covered with a kind of enamel on which various scenes are portrayed. Among the subjects depicted on such bricks discovered at Nimroud are castles and forts.