10728. 'And said to them, These are the words which Jehovah has commanded, to do them' means instruction regarding the major truth of the Church to which all others look back. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as instruction, dealt with in the places referred to in 10280; and from the meaning of 'the words which Jehovah has commanded, to do them' as the major truth that must be fully obeyed. The reason why this is meant is that those words refer to the sabbath, which was the chief of all representative signs, and so means the major truth to which all others look back; for the representative signs in the Church among the Israelite nation were forms of truth on the last and lowest level of order. The situation with representative signs is that the objects which appear in the natural world, in its three kingdoms, compose the last and lowest level of Divine order; for all the realities of heaven, which are called spiritual and celestial, terminate in them. In all this lies the reason why a representative Church was established and why such things were commanded as would represent heaven fully, with every kind of truth and good existing there, on last and lowest levels. And the things which carried the representation were formed out of such objects as exist in the natural world - the tabernacle surrounded with curtains, the table in it on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, the lampstand and its lamps, the altar on which incense was offered, Aaron's garments and the breastplate consisting of precious stones, and other objects in addition to these. What such things represented has been shown in what has gone before.

Hands in the Bible represent power, the force with which things are put into action. To be specific, they represent the power of spiritual good -- which is the love of others and serving others -- expressed through spiritual truth -- which is an understanding and knowledge of what it is to love and serve others. This is in contrast to the feet, which represent power on the natural level, and a “rod,” which represents the power of the hand passed down into external or natural ideas. In a few cases in the Bible, hands also represent communication and a drawing together. This is true when people lift their hands to heaven or to Jehovah, and also when the Lord touches children or touches people to heal them.