10136. 'And a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with beaten oil, a quarter of a hin' means spiritual good derived from celestial good, the amount needed for a joining together. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tenth of an ephah' as a sufficient amount, and the amount needed for the purposes which have to be served, dealt with in 8468, 8540, 9757; from the meaning of 'fine flour' as truth derived from good, dealt with 9995, at this point truth derived from celestial good, which truth is called spiritual good; from the meaning of 'oil' as celestial good, dealt with in 886, 3728, 4582, 4638, 9474, 9780; and from the meaning of 'a quarter of a hin' as the amount needed for a joining together. For 'four' means a joining together, 9601, 9674, so that 'a quarter' or a fourth part means an amount sufficient to accomplish that joining together. The ephah and the hin were measures, and by measures the amount of the thing that is being referred to is meant. By 'an ephah', which was a measure of fine flour, wheat, or barley, the amount of good is meant, and by 'a hin', which was a measure of wine or oil, the amount of truth is meant. The fact that a tenth of an ephah is what should be understood by 'a tenth' is clear from Leviticus 6:20, and elsewhere. From all this it is evident that 'a tenth of fine flour mixed with beaten oil, a quarter of a hin' means spiritual good derived from celestial good, the amount needed for a joining together. What spiritual good is and what celestial good is, see the places referred to in 9277.

9474. 'Spices for the anointing oil' means internal truths belonging to the good that consecrates. This is clear from the meaning of 'spices' as interior truths, which are the truths of internal good, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'oil' as the good of love, as above in 9473; and from the meaning of 'anointing' as consecrating to serve as a representative sign. For objects which were to represent realities that were holy were anointed with oil smelling sweetly of spices and thereby consecrated, as is clear from these words later on in Exodus,

Take for yourself the chief spices - best myrrh, sweet-smelling cinnamon, sweet-scented cane, cassia, olive oil. Afterwards you shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfect ointment; ¹ a holy anointing oil it shall be. With it you shall anoint the tent, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its vessels, the lampstand and its vessels, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its base. Thus shall you sanctify them, that they may be most holy. ² And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons. Exodus 30:23-31.

The reason why objects were holy when they had been anointed was that they then represented realities that were holy; and from this it is evident that the anointing of something was the consecration of it to serve as a representative sign.

[2] The reason why oil was used for anointing was that oil was the sign of celestial good, and celestial good is the good of love received from the Lord, and consequently is the good of love to the Lord. This good is the indispensable element within every single aspect of heaven and eternal life. Sweet-smelling spices were used to make that oil sweet-scented, to the end that what was delightful might be represented; for 'odour' means perception, and 'a pleasant and sweet odour' means a delightful perception, see 925, 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634, 4748. And since every perception of good comes through truth, spices were used, by which interior truths are meant, 4748, 5621.

[3] Something more must be stated briefly about why the anointing oil and also the incense were to be made sweet-smelling. As stated above, 'oil' means the good of love, and 'spice' internal truth. But the good of love cannot come to be perceived except through truths; for truth bears witness to good, indeed is the revealer of it, and may be called the outward form of good. This is like the situation with human will and understanding, in that the will cannot make itself known except through the understanding. For the understanding takes to itself and reveals the good of the will; also the understanding is the outward form of the will, in addition to which truth belongs to the understanding and good to the will. From all this it becomes clear why the anointing oil was made to smell sweetly of spices, as also was the incense. But the difference between them is that the spicy smell of the anointing oil means the delightfulness of internal perception, whereas the spicy smell of incense means the delightfulness of external perception. For the spicy smell of the anointing oil was given off without any smoke, and so presented a sweet odour without any external appearance, whereas the spicy smell of incense was given off with the smoke.

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