Here is, I. The covenant ratified (Gen. 15:17); the sign which Abram desired was given, at length, when the sun had gone down, so that it was dark; for that was a dark dispensation. 1. The smoking furnace signified the affliction of his seed in Egypt. They were there in the iron furnace (Deut. 4:20), the furnace of affliction (Isa. 48:10), labouring in the very fire. They were there in the smoke, ...