are John’s.58 According to Melito’s theory the types are temporary in effect. Thus the blood of the paschal lamb is a type, or prefiguration, of the blood of Christ, as is the law of the gospel. The sufferings of the just, like Abel and Joseph, are types of the sufferings of Christ.59 Melito compares these types to sculptors’ working models and to metaphors; they are of use only until the finished work has been made. The people of Israel are as the artist’s model, a preliminary sketch for the Church.