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Exodus 26:4

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4 Thou shalt make loops of violet in the sides and tops of the curtains, that they may be joined one to another.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9684

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9684. 'And the lampstand across from the table, at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south' means the enlightenment of the spiritual kingdom by means of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human to those who are governed by good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the lampstand' as the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, thus as Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, and the enlightenment given to His spiritual kingdom, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the table', on which the loaves of the Presence were laid and which the lampstand was 'across from', as the Lord in respect of celestial good, thus that very good from which and through which the Lord flows into the spiritual kingdom or middle heaven, also dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south' as in the heaven where the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human dwells in the greatest light. For the dwelling-place outside the veil, where the lampstand was, is the middle heaven, 9594, and 'the south' is where Divine Truth dwells in its own light, 9642. The instructions that the lampstand in the dwelling-place, and also the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, were to be positioned close to the veil, the lampstand however at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south, but the table at the side towards the north, are arcana of heaven which cannot be properly brought to light unless it is known that the dwelling-place represented heaven, and the objects in the dwelling-place the celestial and spiritual realities which exist in heaven. What the lampstand represented has been shown already in 9548, and what the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid represented in 9527, 9545. What 'the south' means has been shown in 9642, and what 'the north' in 3708. From all this it becomes clear that 'the lampstand at the side of the dwelling-place towards the south' means the enlightenment of the spiritual kingdom by means of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human.

[2] But to lay bare those actual arcana, something must be stated about the whole situation in heaven. The Lord appears to those who belong to the celestial kingdom as the Sun, but to those who belong to the spiritual kingdom as the Moon. The Lord as the Sun appears mid-way above the horizon, before the right eye, and as the Moon also mid-way above the horizon, before the left eye. It is from the Lord as the Sun that angels in His celestial kingdom derive their light, and from the Lord as the Moon that those in the spiritual kingdom derive theirs; regarding those two kingdoms, see the places referred to in 9277. The light in the heavens is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human; and when that truth has been received by angels belonging to the spiritual kingdom it is called the truth of faith springing from the good of charity towards the neighbour. This good together with that truth constitute the middle heaven, called the spiritual heaven. The lampstand in the dwelling-place represented the Moon from which those belonging to the spiritual kingdom derive their light; it accordingly represented the Lord's presence there as Divine Truth, since, as has been stated, the Lord appears to those who belong to that kingdom as the Moon. From all this it now becomes clear why the lampstand was placed 'towards the south', for the south is where Divine Truth dwells in light, 9642; also why the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid was placed 'towards the north', for the north is where Divine Truth dwells in obscurity, 3708, as at the same time does Divine Good, meant by 'the loaves' laid on that table. That good becomes spiritual good through the reception of Divine Truth, like the reception of light from the moon. These are the arcana that are meant by the lampstand and its position 'towards the south', and by the table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid and its position 'towards the north'.

[3] The fact that 'the lampstand' means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human is clear from the Book of Revelation,

I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe, and surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts. Revelation 1:12-14.

'The Son of Man' is the Lord in respect of Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, 2803, 2813, 3704. And elsewhere in the same book,

The glory of God will give light to the holy city Jerusalem, and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 21:23.

'The glory of God' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, 9429. 'The lamp' which is 'the Lamb', that is, the Lord, is the faith and consequently the intelligent understanding of truth and wise discernment of good which come from the Lord alone, 9548. The new Jerusalem is the Lord's New Church, 2117.

[4] The Lord is the Sun to those who are in the celestial kingdom and appears as the Moon to those who are in the spiritual kingdom, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 5097, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8644, 8812. Consequently in the Word the Lord in respect of celestial good is meant by 'the sun', and the Lord in respect of spiritual good by 'the moon', 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4696, 7083, 8644. The Lord as the Sun appears mid-way above the horizon, before the right eye, and as the Moon also mid-way above the horizon, before the left eye, 1531, 4321 (end), 7078, 7171.

So it is that the east in heaven is where the Lord appears as the Sun, and the south where the Lord appears as the Moon.

The light from the Lord as the Sun and Moon is Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Human, 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3094, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4060, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4414, 4415, 4419, 4527, 4598, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6315, 6608, 6907, 7174, 8644, 8707, 8861, 9399, 9407.

Since the light from the Lord as the Sun and the Moon is Divine Truth emanating from Him, the heat from the Lord as the Sun there is the Divine Good of His Divine Love, 3338, 3339, 3636, 3643, 5215, 6032.

[5] All this goes to show the nature of the difference between the Lord's celestial kingdom and His spiritual kingdom so far as the reception of Divine Truth is concerned. That is to say, it is like the difference between light from the sun and light from the moon.

Those in the spiritual kingdom, in comparison with the others, dwell in obscurity so far as the truth of faith and the good of charity are concerned, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3833, 6289, 6500, 6945, 7233. These primarily are the ones to have been saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, 2661, 2716, 3969, 6372, 6854, 6914, 7035, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8018, 8054, 8159, 8321, 9596; and the enlightenment they have is in the Lord's Divine Human, 2716, 2833, 2834.

But those belonging to the spiritual Church are saved who lead a good life based on the truths of faith, 2954, 6435, 6647, 6648, 7977, 7992, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 8812

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8812. 'When it came to be morning' means a state when they were governed by good. This is clear from the meaning of 'morning' as a state of the good of love, dealt with in 8426. From these details - that Jehovah, that is, the Lord, came down onto Mount Sinai on the third day, and also in the morning of that day - it is plainly evident that this event was representative of some Divine reality in heaven which no one can come to know about except from the correspondence of such things as arise in the natural world with realities in the spiritual world, and therefore from the spiritual meaning of those things. This is so here so far as the meaning of 'morning' and 'the third day' are concerned. 'The third day' means the end of a former state, and it does so because 'three' means what is complete from start to finish, 8790; and 'morning' means a state of the good of love, because the sun - the sun in the next life which gives light to angels and the whole of heaven - is the Lord. The fire there is His Divine Love, which gives vital heat to all that lives, and the light there is Divine Truth which enlightens all who receive it. The sun there is altogether different from the sun in the world, whose fire is fire and not love, and whose radiating light is light and not truth.

[2] All this goes to show what kind of effects the fire and also the light coming from the sun in the world produce, and what kind of effects the fire and light coming from the sun of heaven produce. The sun in the world provides heat and light without life, whereas the sun in heaven provides heat and light together with life. The latter, being provided by the sun of heaven, are therefore called spiritual, because they hold life within them, whereas the former, which are provided by the sun of the world, are called natural and do not hold life within them. The life in living things that is recognized in their heat and indicated by it does not come from the heat of the sun in the world but from the heat of the sun in heaven. When the latter heat enters heat in the world it produces that effect; the body feels it as elemental heat, but this has vital heat in it, which has its origin in the love that is heat from the sun of heaven. The truth that vital heat springs from a source other than the sun in the world, and that it owes its origin to love and exists according to the amount and the character of that love within it, anyone is able to know provided that he is prepared to think about it properly. Anyone can know except those who do not acknowledge anything internal in the human being and attribute everything to natural forces.

[3] Since therefore heat from the sun in heaven, which is the Lord, is the good of love, and the light from it is the truth of faith, one may see what is meant by 'morning', and what by 'midday', 'evening', and 'night' in the next life. They are states of good and truth or love and faith, 'morning' being a state of the good of love, 'midday' a state of the truth of faith, 'evening and night' a deprivation of them, which is ignorance and blindness in insights that belong to faith, and also slowness and coldness in feelings that belong to heavenly love.

[4] Furthermore the situation with the sun of heaven is as it is with the sun in the world, in that it is motionless and does not bring about those states by any wheeling round of its own. Rather the things around it bring them about, just as a planet travelling round the sun and at the same time rotating on its axis produces changes. The appearance therefore is that those changes are attributable to the sun, but in reality they are not attributable to the sun, only to the planet going round it. So also in heaven. Changes of state there, to which morning, midday, evening, and night correspond, are not attributable to the sun there, for that sun is always radiating heat and light, that is, the good of love and the truth of faith. Instead those changes are attributable to the recipients, that is to say, to the angels and spirits, who move through a regular cycle of such changes as their life progresses. At one point it is morning, that is, they are filled with the good of love; at another it is midday, that is, they are enlightened with the truth of faith; and at yet another it is evening and night, that is, these gifts become vague and dull with them.

[5] The reason why the situation in the world is as it is in heaven, except for the difference that in the world the regular cycle consists of states belonging to the times of day, while in heaven it consists of states of life, is that all things in the world have been created in the image of those in heaven. For natural things arise from spiritual ones as effects from their causes. Consequently there is a correspondence of all things in the world with those in heaven, and therefore the whole natural order is nothing other than a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom, 3483, 4939, 8211.

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