9594. And thou shalt make the Habitation. That this signifies the second or middle heaven, is evident from the signification of “the Habitation,” when said of the Divine, as being heaven, in particular the middle or second heaven. It is known that there are three heavens: the inmost, the middle, and the ultimate; or the third, the second, and the first. All these heavens were represented by the tabernacle: by the ark, where the Testimony was, the inmost or third heaven; by the Habitation, where were the table for the breads of faces and the lampstand, the middle or second heaven; and by the court, the ultimate or first heaven. That there are three heavens is because there are three degrees of life in man (for the man who becomes an angel after death constitutes heaven; from no other source are the angels, from no other is heaven). The inmost degree of the man’s life is for the inmost heaven; the middle degree of his life is for the middle heaven; and the ultimate degree is for the ultimate heaven. Man being such, or so formed, and heaven being from the human race, there are therefore three heavens.

[2] These three degrees of life in man are opened successively; the first degree by a life in accordance with what is equitable and just; the second degree by a life in accordance with the truths of faith from the Word, and in accordance with the consequent goods of charity toward the neighbor; and the third degree by a life in accordance with the good of mutual love and the good of love to the Lord. These are the means whereby are successively opened these three degrees of life in man, thus the three heavens in him. But be it known that in proportion as a man recedes from the good of life, and accedes to the evil of life, these degrees are closed, that is, the heavens are closed in him; for just as the good of life opens them, so the evil of life closes them. It is from this that all who are in evil are outside of heaven, thus are in hell. And because, as before said, the heavens are successively opened in a man according to the good of his life, be it known that for this reason in some the first heaven is opened and not the second; and in some the second heaven is opened and not the third; and that the third heaven is opened in those only who are in the good of life from love to the Lord. (That a man is heaven in the least form, and that he was created after the image both of heaven and of the world, may be seen in the passages cited in n. 9279).

[3] Therefore it is the inmost heaven which is represented by the ark of the Testimony, treated of in the preceding chapter; it is the middle heaven which is represented by the Habitation, treated of in this chapter; and it is the ultimate heaven which is represented by the court, treated of in the following chapter. Heaven is called “the Habitation of God” from the fact that the Divine of the Lord dwells there; for it is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord’s Divine good that makes heaven, for this gives the life of an angel who is there. And because the Lord dwells with the angels in that which is from Himself (n. 9338), therefore heaven is called “the Habitation of God,” and the Divine truths themselves from the Divine good, of which the angels or the angelic societies are the receptions, are called His “Habitations; as in David:

O send out Thy light and Thy truth; let these lead me; let them lead me unto the mountain of holiness, and to Thy habitations; that I may go in unto the altar of God, unto God (Psalms 43:3-4

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holiness of the habitations of the Most High (Psalms 46:4).

They have profaned the habitation of Thy name to the earth (Psalms 74:7).

How lovely are Thy habitations, O Jehovah (Psalms 84:1).

[4] That the Divine things which proceed from the Lord’s Divine Human are what are in particular called His “Habitations,” and that from this, heaven itself is called His “Habitation” is also evident in David:

He swore to Jehovah, he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, I will not give sleep to mine eyes until I have found out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob. Lo, we heard of Him in Ephrathah, we found Him in the fields of the forest; we will go into His Habitations (Psalms 132:2, 4-7).

“The Mighty One of Jacob” denotes the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 6425); “Ephrathah,” where He was to be found, is Bethlehem, where He was born (Genesis 35:19; 48:7; Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:4-6); “the fields of the forest” denote the goods of the church among the Gentiles.

[5] In Ezekiel:

They shall dwell upon the land that I have given to Jacob My servant; they shall dwell upon it, they and their sons’ sons forever; and David My servant shall be prince to them forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forever. So shall My habitation be with them (Ezekiel 37:25-27).

“David,” who was to be “prince to them” denotes the the Lord, (n. 1888); “the sanctuary” denotes the Lord’s Divine Human, because from Him is all that is holy (n. 3210, 9229); thus His “Habitation” denotes heaven and the church where the Lord is.

[6] In Jeremiah:

Thus said Jehovah, Behold I bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his habitations, that the city shall be built upon its heap (Jeremiah 30:18).

“To bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents” denotes to restore the goods and truths of the external church which had been destroyed; “having compassion on his habitations” denotes to restore the truths of the internal church; “the city which shall be built upon its heap” denotes the doctrine of truth (n. 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493).

[7] In what way the Lord dwells in the heavens, can be seen from what has been shown already concerning the Lord; namely, that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Sun from which are the heat and light in the heavens. The heat from the Lord as the Sun is love, and the light is faith. From this the Lord dwells with those who receive from Him the good of love and the truth of faith, thus the heat and light of life. His presence is according to the degrees of the reception.

9229. And ye shall be men of holiness to Me. That this signifies the state of life then from good, is evident from the signification of “men of holiness,” as being those who are led by the Lord; for the Divine which proceeds from the Lord is holiness itself (see n. 6788, 7499, 8127, 8302, 8806), consequently those who receive it in faith and also in love are called “holy.” He who believes that a man is holy from any other source, and that anything else with him is holy than that which is from the Lord and is received, is very much mistaken. For that which is of man and is called his own, is evil. (That man’s own is nothing but evil, see n. 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1047, 4328, 5660, 5786, 8480, 8944; and that insofar as a man can be withheld from his own, so far the Lord can he present, thus that so far the man has holiness, n. 1023, 1044, 1581, 2256, 2388, 2406, 2411, 8206, 8393, 8988, 9014)

[2] That the Lord alone is holy, and that that alone is holy which proceeds from the Lord, thus that which man receives from the Lord, is plain from the Word throughout; as in John:

I sanctify Myself that they also may be sanctified in the truth (John 17:19);

“to sanctify Himself” denotes to make Himself Divine by His own power; and those are said to be “sanctified in the truth” who in faith and life receive the Divine truth proceeding from Him.

[3] Therefore also the Lord after His resurrection, speaking with the disciples, “breathed on them” and said unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22); the breathing upon them was representative of making them alive by faith and love, as also in the second chapter of Genesis: “Jehovah breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul” (verse 7); in like manner in other passages (Psalms 33:6; 104:29-30; Job 32:8; 33:4; John 3:8). From this also the Word is said to be inspired, because it is from the Lord, and they who wrote the Word are said to have been inspired. (That breathing, and thus inspiration, corresponds to the life of faith, see n. 97, 1119, 1120, 3883-3896.) From this it is that in the Word “spirit” is so called from “wind” or “breath,” and that what is holy from the Lord is called “the wind or breath of Jehovah” (n. 8286); also that the Holy Spirit is the holy proceeding from the the Lord, (n. 3704, 4673, 5307, 6788, 6982, 6993, 8127, 8302, 9199).

[4] So also it is said in John that the Lord “baptizeth with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33); and in Luke that “He baptizeth with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (John 3:16). In the internal sense “to baptize” signifies to regenerate (n. 4255, 5120, 9088); “to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire” signifies to regenerate by the good of love. (That “fire” denotes the good of love, see n. 934, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324) In John:

Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy (Revelation 15:4).

In Luke it is said by the angel concerning the Lord: “The holy thing that shall be born of thee” (Luke 1:35); and in Daniel, “I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven” (Daniel 4:13). In these passages “the holy thing” and “the holy one” denote the Lord.

[5] As the Lord alone is holy, He is called in the Old Testament the “Holy One of Israel,” the “Redeemer,” the “Preserver,” the “Regenerator” (Isaiah 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11-12, 15; 31:1; 37:23 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 5 4:5; 55:5; 60:9, 14; Jeremiah 50:29; 51:5; Ezekiel 39:7; Psalms 71:22; 78:41; 89:18). And therefore the Lord in heaven, and consequently heaven itself, is called “the habitation of holiness” (Jeremiah 31:23; Isaiah 63:15; Jeremiah 25:30); also a “sanctuary” (Ezekiel 11:16; 24:21); and “the mountain of holiness” (Psalms 48:1). For the same reason the middle of the tent, where was the ark containing the Law, was called the “Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:33-34); for by the Law in the ark in the middle of the tent was represented the Lord as to the Word, because “the Law” denotes the Word (n. 6752, 7463).

[6] All this shows why the angels are called “holy” (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Psalms 149:1; Daniel 8:13); also the prophets (Luke 1:70); and likewise the apostles (Revelation 18:20); not that they are holy from themselves, but from the Lord, who alone is holy, and from whom alone proceeds what is holy; for by “angels” are signified truths, because they are receptions of truth from the the Lord, (n. 1925, 4085, 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301); by “prophets” is signified the doctrine of truth which comes through the Word from the the Lord, (n. 2534, 7269); and by “apostles” are signified in their complex all the truths and goods of faith which are from the the Lord, (n. 3488, 3858, 6397).

[7] The sanctifications among the Israelitish and Jewish people were for the purpose of representing the Lord who alone is holy, and the holiness which is from Him alone. This was the purpose of the sanctification of Aaron and his sons (Exodus 29:1, etc.; Leviticus 8:10-11, 13, 30); of the sanctification of their garments (Exodus 29:21, etc.); of the sanctification of the altar, that it might be a holy of holies (Exodus 29:37, etc.); of the sanctification of the tent of the assembly, of the ark of the testimony, of the table, of all the vessels, of the altar of incense, of the altar of burnt-offering, and of the vessels thereof, and of the laver and the base thereof (Exodus 30:26, etc.).

[8] That the Lord is the holiness itself that was represented, is also plain from His words in Matthew, as viewed in the internal sense:

Ye fools and blind! Whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? (Matthew 23:17, 19);

by the temple was represented the Lord Himself, and also by the altar; and by the “gold” was signified the good which is from the Lord; and by the “gift” or sacrifice, were signified the things that belong to faith and charity from the Lord. (That the Lord was represented by the temple, see n. 2777, 3720; also that He was represented by the altar, n. 2777, 2811, 4489, 8935, 8940 and that by “gold” was signified good from the Lord, n. 1551, 1552, 5658; and by a “sacrifice” worship from the faith and charity which are from the Lord, n. 922, 923, 2805, 2807, 2830, 6905, 8680, 8682, 8936)

[9] In view of all this it is evident why the sons of Israel were called a “holy people” (Deuteronomy 26:19, and elsewhere); and in the words before us “men of holiness;” namely, from the fact that in every detail of their worship were represented the Divine things of the Lord, and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom and church. They were therefore called “holy” in a representative sense. They themselves were not holy on this account, because the representatives had regard to the holy things that were represented, and not to the person who represented them (n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806).

[10] Hence also it is that Jerusalem was called “holy;” and Zion, “the mountain of holiness” (Zech. 8:3, and elsewhere). Also in Matthew:

And the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that were dead were raised; and coming forth out of their tombs after the Lord’s resurrection, they entered into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matthew 27:52-53);

Jerusalem is here called “the holy city,” although it was rather profane than holy, for the Lord had then been crucified in it, and it is therefore called “Sodom and Egypt” in John:

Their bodies shall lie on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Revelation 11:8).

But it is called “holy” from the fact that it signifies the Lord’s kingdom and church (n. 402, 2117, 3654). The “saints that were dead” appearing there, which happened to some in vision, signified the salvation of those who were of the spiritual church, and the elevation into the Holy Jerusalem, which is heaven, of those who until that time had been detained in the lower earth (of which above, n. 6854, 6914, 7090, 7828, 7932, 8049, 8054, 8159, 8321).