The Time Machine: Metaphor Analysis

The White Sphinx in all its glory can easily be viewed as a godlike being.  Unlike a normal sphinx, the Time Traveler make specific note that its wings are outstretched like an angel's.  Also, the Time Traveler repeatedly notes that the eyes of the sphinx seem to follow him everywhere.  The Ancient Egyptians built and worshipped what we know as the original Great Sphinx, and the presence of another large sphinx statue hundreds of thousands of years in the future could be representative of a similar religion of some future society
The Palace of Green Porcelain is for all intents and purposes a museum.  However, unlike most museums, this building contains artifacts from the Time Traveler's era, a feeling too strange for most of us to even contemplate.  It is here that the Time Traveler finds a renewed sense of confidence against the Morlocks after finding matches, camphor, and a weapon.  He seems oddly at ease within the walls of this 'palace,' almost as though it is a source of refuge for him.  Perhaps this is because the items within its walls are from his home even though he is so far away from it.