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Exodus 27

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1 And thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth; the altar shall be square; and the height thereof three cubits.

2 And thou shalt make its horns at the four corners thereof; its horns shall be of itself; and thou shalt overlay it with copper.

3 And thou shalt make its pots to cleanse it of the fat, its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its firepans; for all the utensils thereof thou shalt employ copper.

4 And thou shalt make for it a grating of network of copper; and on the net shalt thou make four copper rings at its four corners;

5 and thou shalt put it under the ledge of the altar beneath, and the net shall be to the very middle of the altar.

6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with copper.

7 And its staves shall be put into the rings, that the staves may be on both sides of the altar, when it is carried.

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it hath been shewn thee on the mountain, so shall they make [it].

9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side, southward, hangings for the court of twined byssus; a hundred cubits the length for the one side,

10 and the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty bases of copper, the hooks of the pillars and their connecting-rods of silver.

11 And likewise on the north side in length, hangings a hundred [cubits] long, and its twenty pillars, and their twenty bases of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their connecting-rods of silver.

12 -- And the breadth of the court on the west side, hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their bases ten.

13 -- And the breadth of the court on the east side, eastward, fifty cubits;

14 the hangings on the one wing, of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their bases three.

15 And on the other wing hangings of fifteen [cubits]; their pillars three, and their bases three.

16 -- And for the gate of the court a curtain of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus, embroidered with needlework; their pillars four, and their bases four.

17 All the pillars of the court round about shall be fastened together with [rods of] silver; their hooks of silver, and their bases of copper.

18 The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of twined byssus; and their bases of copper.

19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for the service thereof and all the pegs thereof, and all the pegs of the court shall be of copper.

20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee olive oil, pure, beaten, for the light, to light the lamp continually.

21 In the tent of meeting outside the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall dress them from evening to morning before Jehovah: [it is] an everlasting statute, for their generations, on the part of the children of Israel.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 886

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886. That 'olive' means the good that stems from charity is clear not only from the meaning of 'olive' but also from the meaning of 'oil' in the Word. Olive oil in addition to spices was used to anoint priests and kings, and it was also used in the lamps. Concerning the former, see Exodus 30:24, and the latter, Exodus 27:20. The reason olive oil was used in anointing and in lamps was that it represented everything celestial and so everything good that stems from love and charity. Oil is in fact the essential element of the tree, its soul so to speak, as the celestial or the good that stems from love and charity is the essential element or soul itself of faith. This is the origin of its representation. That 'oil' means that which is celestial or the good that stems from love and charity may be confirmed from many places in the Word, but since the olive itself is referred to here, let some that confirm the meaning solely of the olive be quoted. In Jeremiah,

Jehovah called your name, Green Olive Tree, fair with shapely fruit. Jeremiah 11:16.

The name given here applies to the Most Ancient or celestial Church, which was the basis of the Jewish Church. Consequently all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through the latter to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea,

His branches will go out and his beauty will be like the olive, and his smell like that of Lebanon. Hosea 14:6.

This refers to the Church that is to be established. Its beauty is 'the olive', that is, the good that stems from love and charity, while 'the smell like that of Lebanon' is resulting affection for the truth of faith. 'Lebanon' stands for its cedars, which meant spiritual things, or the truths of faith.

In Zechariah,

Two olive trees beside the lampstand, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left of it. These are the two sons of pure oil, standing beside the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14.

Here 'the two olive trees' stands for the celestial and the spiritual, and so for love which belongs to the celestial Church and for charity which belongs to the spiritual Church. These stand to the right and to the left of the Lord. 'The lampstand' here means the Lord, just as it used to represent Him in the Jewish Church. 'The lamps' are celestial things from which spiritual things radiate like rays of light, or light itself, from a flame. In David,

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine on the sides of your house, your sons will be like olive shoots. Psalms 128:3.

Here 'a wife like a vine' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'sons' stands for the truths of faith which are called 'olive shoots' because they stem from the goods of charity. In Isaiah,

Gleanings will be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries on the top of the [highest] branch. Isaiah 17:6.

This refers to the remnants residing with a person. 'Olives' stands for celestial remnants. In Micah,

You will tread olives but not anoint yourself with oil, and tread the new wine but not drink wine. Micah 6:15.

And in Moses,

You will plant and dress vineyards but not drink wine. You will have olive trees within all your borders but not anoint yourself with oil. Deuteronomy 28:39-40.

The subject here is the abundance of doctrinal detail concerning the goods and truths of faith which they rejected because of the kind of people they were. From these quotations it becomes clear that 'a leaf' means the truth of faith and 'olive' the good that stems from charity. And similar things are meant by 'the olive leaf which the dove was carrying in its mouth', that is, a small measure of the truth of faith deriving from the good that stems from charity was now showing itself with the member of the Ancient Church.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.