9740. Verses 9-19 And you shall make the court of the dwelling-place on the south side ¹ , southwards; the hangings for the court shall be [made] from fine twined linen, a hundred cubits the length to one corner; and its pillars shall be twenty, and their bases twenty, [made] from bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands [shall be made] from silver. And [the same shall be] so for the length on the north side ¹ ; the hangings shall be a hundred in length, and its pillars twenty, and their bases twenty, [made] from bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands [made] from silver. And the breadth of the court on the side of the sea, ² the hangings shall be fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and the bases of these, ten. And the breadth of the court on the east side ¹ , towards the sunrise, shall be fifty cubits; and hangings of fifteen cubits shall there be for [one] wing, ³ their pillars three, and the bases of these, three; and for the other wing ³ there shall be hangings [of] fifteen [cubits], their pillars three, and the bases of these, three. And for the gate of the court there shall be a screen of twenty cubits, [made] from violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, its pillars four, and the bases of these, four. All the pillars of the court round about shall be banded with bands of silver, and their hooks [made] from silver and their bases from bronze. The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty throughout, ⁴ and the height five cubits, [with hangings made] from fine twined linen and their bases from bronze. And as for all the vessels of the dwelling-place, in all its service, and all its pins and all the pins of the court, [they shall be made] from bronze.

'And you shall make the court of the dwelling-place' means the lowest heaven. 'On the south side, southwards' means that it dwells in the light of truth. 'The hangings for the court' means the truths of that heaven. 'From fine twined linen' means coming out of the understanding. 'A hundred cubits the length' means complete with good from the Lord. 'To one corner' means where the truths dwell in light. 'And its pillars shall be twenty' means forms of the good of truth which provide complete support. 'And their bases twenty, [made] from bronze' means the truths springing from good which also provide complete support. 'The hooks of the pillars and their bands [shall be made] from silver' means the modes by which they are linked together through truth. 'And [the same shall be] so for the length on the north side' means where the good of truth dwells in obscurity. 'The hangings shall be a hundred in length' means likewise complete with truths that spring from good. 'And its pillars twenty' means forms of the good of truth which provide complete support. 'And their bases twenty, [made] from bronze' means the truths springing from good which also provide complete support. 'The hooks of the pillars and their bands [made] from silver' means the modes by which they are linked together through truth. 'And the breadth of the court on the side of the sea' means the state of that heaven in respect of truths on the level of factual knowledge. 'The hangings shall be fifty cubits' means the quantity of truths needed for the purposes they have to serve. 'Their pillars, and the bases of these, ten' means the quantity also of supporting forms of good, and of truths springing from these, needed for the purposes they have to serve. 'And the breadth of the court on the east side, towards the sunrise' means the state of the truth of that heaven where forms of good reside. 'Fifty cubits' means the quantity needed for the purposes to be served. 'And hangings of fifteen cubits shall there be for [one] wing' means a sufficient quantity of truths dwelling in light. 'Their pillars three, and the bases of these, three' means the forms of good and the truths springing from them which provide complete support. 'And hangings of fifteen cubits for the [other] wing, their pillars three, and the bases of these, three' means the same things as above but where truths dwell in obscurity. 'And for the gate of the court there shall be a screen' means introduction into that heaven, and a guard that prohibits entry into it except by those who have been prepared. 'Of twenty cubits' means to the full. 'From violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen' means forms of the good of charity and faith. 'The work of an embroiderer' means things belonging to factual knowledge. 'Its pillars four, and the bases of these, four' means the forms of good, and the truths springing from them, which support the linking together. 'All the pillars of the court round about' means every form of good supporting heaven. 'Shall be banded with bands of silver, and their hooks [made] from silver' means all the modes of linking together through truth. 'And their bases from bronze' means forms of support received through good. 'The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits' means the good of that heaven, to the full. 'And the breadth fifty throughout' means truth in a sufficient amount. 'And the height five cubits' means the degrees of good and truth, also in a sufficient amount. '[With hangings made] from fine twined linen' means coming out of the understanding. 'And their bases from bronze' means the support they all receive through good. 'And as for all the vessels of the dwelling-place, in all its service' means the truths and the forms of good on the level of factual knowledge which the external man possesses. 'And all its pins and all the pins of the court, [they shall be made] from bronze' means everything that joins together and strengthens the two heavens, the middle and the lowest, through good.

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2045. 'Shall be circumcised among you' means purification. This is clear from the representation and meaning of 'circumcision' as purification from filthy loves, dealt with above in 2039. People who are immersed in self-love and love of the world are quite incapable of believing that they are under the influence of such filthy and unclean loves as in fact they are. Indeed a certain pleasure and delight exists which coaxes, encourages, and allures, and causes them to love that life, to prefer it to every other kind of life, and so to imagine that there is nothing bad about it at all. For whatever encourages anyone's love and resulting life is considered to be good. For this reason also the rational agrees to and produces confirmatory falsities which lead to blindness so great that people see nothing at all of what heavenly love is. And if they did see it they would in their hearts say that it was something wretched, or not really anything at all, or something in the nature of a delusion which takes possession of the mind as it does in sickness.

[2] That the life which belongs to self-love and love of the world, together with its pleasures and delights, is filthy and unclean may become clear to anyone if he is willing to think from the powers of reason which have been given to him. Self-love is the source of all the evils that destroy civilized society. From it, as from a filthy pit, all forms of hatred, revenge, and cruelty stream forth, and indeed of adultery. For anyone who loves himself either holds in contempt or reviles or hates everybody else who does not serve him or who does not further his interests or who fails to show him favour; and in hating he breathes nothing but revenge and cruelty - doing so in the measure that he loves himself. Such love is for these reasons destructive of society and of the human race. That this is its nature, see also what has been stated in Volume One on the same subject, in 693, 694, 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1506, 1594, 1691, 1862. That self-love is in the next life utterly filthy and diametrically opposed to the mutual love that constitutes heaven will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on.

[3] And since that love is the source of all hatred, revenge, cruelty, and adultery, it is the source of all things that are called sins, crimes, abominations, and profanations. When therefore self-love is present in a person's rational, and in the desires and delusions of his external man, the influx of heavenly love from the Lord in that case is constantly intercepted, degraded, and defiled. It is like foul excrement which dispels, indeed pollutes, every pleasant odor. It also resembles an object which is constantly converting inflowing rays of light into dark and hideous colours. Or it is like a tiger or a serpent that hisses when fondled and kills with its bite or poison those who feed it. Or else it is like a villain who converts even the best intentions of other people, and sheer acts of kindness, into what is reprehensible and wicked. From this it is clear that those loves - self-love and love of the world - are what were represented and meant by the foreskins that were to be cut off.