When the Epistle speaks of shadowing this means shadowing down (from heaven to earth), not shadowing forward (from Old Testament to New Testament). According to this philosophical interpretation, the New Testament is not merely a reproduction of the Heavenly Reality, but its actual substance, the Reality itself come down from heaven, the aute eikoon or very image. The word eikoon, besides meaning image, also had the meaning of archetype, and this is the meaning which precisely suits our purpose here.