Verse 2so is How poor are the similes of the bride as compared with those of the Bridegroom. To Him she is a "lily among thorns; she can only say that He is "as the apple tree among the trees of the wood." Verse 9our wall "Our wall." The bride had returned to her own home: the Bridegroom seeks her. Verse 14dove There is beautiful order here. First we have what the bride is as seen in Christ, "My dove." In herself most faulty; in Him "blameless and harmless" Philippians 2:15 the very character of the dove. The bride's place of safety, "in the clefts of the rock"--hidden, so to speak, in the wounds of Christ. Thirdly, her privilege. "Stairs" speaks of access. It is not "secret places," as in A.V., but "the secret of the stairs"--the way and privilege of access to His presence ; Ephesians 2:18; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:19-22. Fourthly, the order of approach: she is to come near before she speaks, "Let me see thy countenance," then "Let me hear thy voice." Lastly, now that she is near and has spoken, He speaks a tender word of admonition: "Take us the foxes," etc.