9846. 'With the work of one who works on stones, [like] the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel' means the heavenly pattern which all the truths arranged into their proper order in the memory by the good of love take on, that is, the truths there which have been grasped by a regenerated person's understanding and then set in order by his will. This is clear from the meaning of 'one who works on stones' as the good of love, thus the will part in the mind of one who has been regenerated, for this consists of the good of love (the will part of one who has been regenerated is a recipient of the good of love, and the understanding part is a recipient of the truths of faith); from the meaning of 'the engravings of a signet' as the heavenly pattern that all the truths possess, such as exists in the understanding of one who has been regenerated because the truths of faith there have been arranged into the heavenly pattern (for this reason a person who has been regenerated conforms to a small image of heaven, see the places referred to at the end of 9279, and the understanding part in the mind of a person who has been regenerated corresponds to the spiritual kingdom in heaven, while the will part corresponds to the celestial kingdom there, 9835; and from all this it is evident what the heavenly pattern of the truths present with a person may be); from the meaning of 'engraving stones' as imprinting on the memory, dealt with above in 9842, at this point imprinting such a pattern on the truths there; and from the meaning of 'the names of the sons of Israel' as the entire essential nature of truths and forms of good in their proper order, also dealt with above, in 9842-9845.

[2] The reason why 'one who works on stones' means the good of love or the will of someone who has been regenerated is that the good of love is at work arranging truths into order with a person while he is being regenerated, and afterwards, when he has been regenerated, is at work maintaining them in their proper order. For the truths are created to have complete similarity with the good and to respond to its every demand, and so to every demand of love since the good is an attribute of love. (The truth of this is clear from the consideration that a person acknowledges as truths things that he loves, and this being so, his love is what determines his understanding and acknowledgement of truths.) So it is that the truths constitute the form taken by the good. From all this one may recognize how the Lord leads a person by means of the truths of faith or by means of faith, namely by means of the good of love present with him, and in addition how the Lord also governs a person in an indirect way by means of heaven. For a person who has been regenerated conforms to a small image of heaven, as stated above, and since He governs heaven He also at the same time governs a person such as that.

9835. 'With the work of a designer' means a product of the understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'a designer' as the power of understanding, dealt with in 9598, 9688, so that 'the work of a designer' means that which is a product of that power. 'A designer' (excogitator) means the power of understanding because thought (cogitatio) belongs to the understanding, even as love and affection belong to the will. In the internal sense 'a designer' and 'thought' have the same meaning; for in that sense no attention is paid to the person, only to the actual reality that is meant, and 'designer' carries the idea of a person. For the truth of this, see 5225, 5287, 5434, 8343, 8985, 9007. What 'a product of the understanding' means must be stated briefly. The subject at present is the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and this kingdom - so far as all truths and forms of good there are concerned - belongs to the understanding part of the mind, whereas things in the Lord's celestial kingdom belong to the will part. For there are two entities with which everything in all creation has connection, good and truth; and this is why in the human being there are two mental powers, will and understanding. The will exists for the sake of good, and the understanding for the sake of truth; for the will is the recipient of good, and the understanding that of truth.

[2] The situation in the heavens is similar. There two kingdoms exist, the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial kingdom exists to be a recipient of good and the spiritual kingdom to be a recipient of truth. And since the whole heaven corresponds to everything that exists with the human being, and heaven in the Lord's sight is consequently like one complete human being, this as well has the two powers of will and understanding, the will residing in the celestial kingdom and the understanding in the spiritual kingdom. Now because the spiritual kingdom was represented by Aaron's garments and heaven's power of understanding resides in this kingdom, 'the work of a designer' accordingly means the power of understanding.

The whole heaven, by virtue of the correspondence with every single thing that exists with the human being, is like one complete human being and is called the Grand Man, see the places referred to at the end of 9276. The forms of good and the truths present with those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom have been inscribed on the understanding part of their mind, but with those in His celestial kingdom on the will part, see the places referred to in 9277, 9596.