In the last verse, the text here is "This through countless ages / Men and angels sing" (the "this" is described in the previous lines: "Glory, laud, and honor / Unto Christ, the king"). "Ages" is sung with a melisma (C Bb Ab Bb), musically giving a sense of the multitude of "countless."
The second half of the refrain is "With the cross of Jesus / Going on before," sung to these phrases:
The notes to which "cross of Jesus" is sung form a cross inscription, giving a musical picture of the text.
