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Exodus 37

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1 And Bezaleel made the ark of acacia-wood; two cubits and a half the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

2 And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a border of gold upon it round about.

3 And he cast for it four rings of gold, for its four corners: two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.

4 And he made staves of acacia-wood and overlaid them with gold.

5 And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark.

6 -- And he made a mercy-seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

7 And he made two cherubim of gold; of beaten work did he make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat;

8 one cherub at the end of one side, and one cherub at the end of the other side; out of the mercy-seat he made the two cherubim at the two ends thereof.

9 And the cherubim spread out [their] wings over it, covering over with their wings the mercy-seat; and their faces were opposite to one another: the faces of the cherubim were [turned] toward the mercy-seat.

10 And he made the table of acacia-wood; two cubits the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made upon it a border of gold round about.

12 And he made for it a margin of a hand-breadth round about; and made a border of gold for the margin thereof round about.

13 And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings on the four corners that were on the four feet thereof.

14 Close to the margin were the rings, as receptacles of the staves to carry the table.

15 And he made the staves of acacia-wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table.

16 And he made the utensils that were on the table, the dishes thereof, and the cups thereof, and the bowls thereof, and the goblets with which to pour out, of pure gold.

17 And he made the candlestick of pure gold; [of] beaten work he made the candlestick: its base, and its shaft, its cups, its knobs, and its flowers were of itself.

18 And six branches went out of the sides thereof -- three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof;

19 [there were] three cups shaped like almonds in the one branch, a knob and a flower; and three cups shaped like almonds in the other branch, a knob and a flower: so in the six branches which went out of the candlestick.

20 And in the candlestick were four cups, shaped like almonds, its knobs, and its flowers;

21 and a knob under two branches thereof, and [again] a knob under two branches thereof, and [again] a knob under two branches thereof, for the six branches which went out of it.

22 Their knobs and their branches were of itself -- all of one beaten work of pure gold.

23 And he made the seven lamps thereof, and the snuffers thereof, and the snuff-trays thereof, of pure gold.

24 Of a talent of pure gold he made it, and all its utensils.

25 And he made the altar of incense of acacia-wood; a cubit the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, square, and two cubits the height thereof: its horns were of itself.

26 And he overlaid it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and made upon it a border of gold round about.

27 And he made two rings of gold for it under its border, by its two corners, on the two sides thereof, as receptacles for the staves with which to carry it.

28 And he made the staves of acacia-wood, and overlaid them with gold.

29 And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of fragrant drugs, according to the work of the perfumer.

   

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True Christianity # 260

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260. It is important to know as well that the literal meaning is a protection to prevent harm to the genuine truths that lie inside it. The nature of this protection is that the literal meaning can be turned this way and that and explained to different levels of comprehension without damaging or violating what is inside. It does no harm if one person takes the literal meaning one way and another takes it another way. It is harmful, however, if people bring in false ideas that go against divine truths. Only people who are adamant about falsities do this. Doing so does violence to the Word. The literal meaning offers protection to prevent this from happening. It also offers protection to people who have been given false ideas by their religion but have not become adamant about them.

The angel guardians in the Word both stand for and portray the protecting role of the Word's literal meaning. This protection is the meaning of the angel guardians who were placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden after Adam was thrown out with his wife. About this we read,

When Jehovah God expelled the human, he made angel guardians dwell on the east side of the garden of Eden and made the flame of a sword turning this way and that to guard the pathway to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

[2] No one could see what these details mean without knowing the meaning of "angel guardians," "the garden of Eden," the garden's "tree of life," and "the flame of a sword" turning this way and that. These details have been explained in the relevant chapter of Secrets of Heaven, published in London [Secrets of Heaven 305-313]. To be specific, the "angel guardians" mean protection. The "pathway to the tree of life" means the access to the Lord available to people through the truths in the Word's spiritual meaning. The "flame of a sword turning" means divine truth on the outermost level, which is like the Word in its literal meaning; it is similarly capable of being turned this way and that.

The same thing is meant by the angel guardians made of gold that were placed on the two ends of the mercy seat that was on top of the ark in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-21). The "ark" meant the Word because the Ten Commandments are the most basic thing in the Word. The "angel guardians" meant protection, which is why the Lord spoke with Moses from between the angel guardians (Exodus 25:22; 37:9; Numbers 7:89). Further, the Lord spoke to Moses in the earthly meaning because he does not speak with us unless he speaks in a complete way, and divine truth has its complete form in the literal meaning (see 214-224 above).

The angel guardians on the curtains and the veil in the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31) had a similar meaning. The curtains and the veil in the tabernacle meant the outermost aspects of heaven and the church; therefore they meant the outermost aspects of the Word as well (see 220 above).

The same applies to the angel guardians carved on the walls and doors of the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35); see 221 above. Likewise, the angel guardians in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20).

[3] Angel guardians mean the protection that prevents people from going directly to the Lord, heaven, and the divine truth in the form it takes inside the Word, and steers them instead to go indirectly through the [Word's] outermost level. For this reason we read the following statements about the king of Tyre:

You who seal up your measurement; full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was your covering. You, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering. I lost you, O protecting angel guardian, in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

"Tyre" means the church's knowledge of goodness and truth. "The king of Tyre" means the Word where that knowledge exists and originates. The king clearly means the Word on its outermost level and the angel guardian means protection, because it says, "You who seal up your measurement, every precious stone is your covering, you, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering," and "O protecting angel guardian. " On the precious stones listed in that passage as referring to aspects of the literal meaning, see 217, 218 above. Since "angel guardians" mean the Word at the outermost level and protection as well, therefore we read the following phrases in David:

Jehovah bowed down the heavens and came down. He rode upon an angel guardian. (Psalms 18:9-10)

Shine forth, O Shepherd of Israel who sits upon angel guardians. (Psalms 80:1)

Jehovah sitting upon angel guardians. (Psalms 99:1)

Riding and sitting "upon angel guardians" refers to the Word's outermost meaning.

The Word's divine truth and the qualities of that truth are portrayed by four creatures that are also called angel guardians (Ezekiel 1:9-10), and by four creatures in the middle of the throne and next to it (Revelation 4:6-7). See Revelation Unveiled (which I published in Amsterdam) 239, 275, 314.

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