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Exodus 36

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1 Beseleel, therefore, and Ooliab, and every wise man, to whom the Lord gave wisdom and understanding, to know how to work artificially, made the things that are necessary for the uses of the sanctuary, and which the Lord commanded.

2 And when Moses had called them, and every skilful man, to whom the Lord had given wisdom, and such as of their own accord had offered themselves to the making of the work,

3 He delivered all the offerings of the children of Israel unto them. And while they were earnest about the work, the people daily in the morning offered their vows.

4 Whereupon the workmen being constrained to come,

5 Said to Moses: The people offereth more than is necessary.

6 Moses therefore commanded proclamation to be made by the crier's voice: Let neither man nor woman offer any more for the work of the sanctuary. And so they ceased from offering gifts,

7 Because the things that were offered did suffice, and were too much.

8 And all the men that were wise of heart, to accomplish the work of the tabernacle, made ten curtains of twisted fine linen, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with varied work, and the art of embroidering:

9 The length of one curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth four: all the curtains were of the same size.

10 And he joined five curtains, one to another, and the other five he coupled one to another.

11 He made also loops of violet in the edge of the curtain on both sides, and in the edge of the other curtain in like manner,

12 That the loops might meet on against another, and might be joined each with the other.

13 Whereupon also he cast fifty rings of gold, that might catch the loops of the curtains, and they might be made one tabernacle.

14 He made also eleven curtains of goats' hair, to cover the roof of the tabernacle:

15 One curtain was thirty cubits long and four cubits broad: all the curtains were of One measure.

16 Five of which he joined apart, and the other six apart.

17 And he made fifty loops in the edge of one curtain, and fifty in the edge of another curtain, that they might be joined one to another.

18 And fifty buckles of brass wherewith the roof might be knit together, that of all the curtains there might be made one covering.

19 He made also a cover for the tabernacle of rams' skins dyed red: and another cover over that of violet skins.

20 He made also the boards of the tabernacle of setim wood standing.

21 The length of one board was ten cubits: and the breadth was one cubit and a half.

22 There were two mortises throughout every board, that one might be joined to the other. And in this manner he made for all the boards of the tabernacle.

23 Of which twenty were at the south side southward,

24 With forty sockets of silver, two sockets were put under one board on the two sides of the corners, where the mortises of the sides end in the corners.

25 At that side also of the tabernacle, that looketh toward the north, he made twenty boards.

26 With forty sockets of silver, two sockets for every board.

27 But against the west, to wit, at that side of the tabernacle, which looketh to the sea, he made six boards,

28 And two others at each corner of the tabernacle behind:

29 Which were also joined from beneath unto the top, and went together into one joint. Thus he did on both sides at the corners:

30 So there were in all eight boards and they had sixteen sockets of silver, to wit, two sockets under every board.

31 He made also bars of setim wood, five to hold together the boards of one side of the tabernacle,

32 And five others to join together the boards of the other side: and besides these, five other bars at the west side of the tabernacle towards the sea.

33 He made also another bar, that might come by the midst of the boards from corner to corner.

34 And the board works themselves he overlaid with gold, casting for them sockets of silver. And their rings he made of gold, through which the bars might be drawn: and he covered the bars themselves with plates of gold.

35 He made also a veil of violet, and purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, varied and distinguished with embroidery:

36 And four pillars of setim wood, which with their heads be overlaid with gold, casting for them sockets of silver.

37 He made also a hanging in the entry of the tabernacle of violet, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, with the work of an embroiderer.

38 And five pillars with their heads, which he covered with gold, and their sockets he cast of brass.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9509

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9509. 'And you shall make two cherubs' means that there is no admission or access to the Lord except through the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'cherubs' as watchfulness and providence, guarding against access to the Lord except through the good of love. Since this was meant by the cherubs, they were placed over the mercy-seat that was over the ark; and they were for the same reason made from solid gold. For 'the ark' means heaven where the Lord is, 9485, and 'gold' means the good of love, 9490. The reason why there is no access to the Lord except through the good of love is that love is spiritual togetherness, and all good belongs to love. Those therefore who are governed by the good of love to the Lord are brought to Him in heaven, because they have been joined together with Him. So too are those who are governed by the good of love towards the neighbour; for the neighbour is the good of a fellow-citizen, the good of one's country, the good of the Church, the good of the whole of the Lord's kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself since He is the source of that good present with a person.

[2] There are two states that a person passes through while being regenerated, one of which follows the other. The first is a state during which he is led by means of the truths of faith to the good of love; the other is one in which he is governed by the good of love, and when governed by it he is in heaven with the Lord. From this it is evident that this good is heaven itself present with the person, that good being the Lord present with him because its source is the Lord. Regarding these two states that a person who is being regenerated passes through, one of which follows the other, see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274; and the fact that a person comes into heaven when governed by good, that is, when led by the Lord by means of good, 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139.

[3] It is clear from places in the Word where 'cherubs' are mentioned that they mean watchfulness and providence, guarding against access to the Lord or to heaven except through the good of love, that is, except by those governed by the good of love, and also guarding against any harm being done to the good from the Lord which is present in heaven and with a person, as for instance in Genesis,

And He expelled the man, and away from the east towards the garden of Eden He caused the cherubs to dwell, and the flame of a sword turning itself this way and that to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24.

Here it is self-evident that things which serve as guards are meant by 'the cherubs', since it says 'to guard the way to the tree of life'. 'The tree of life' is the good of love, which comes from the Lord and for that reason is the Lord; and it is guarded by the prevention of any access except through the good of love.

[4] It is thought that the Lord is accessible through the truths of faith. But there can be no access to Him, nor even to heaven, through those truths if they have been separated from the good of love. As soon as separated truths wish to enter, heaven, which is the way to the Lord, is closed. And since truth cannot enter by itself unless it has good within it, and by virtue of this has come to consist of good, neither can understanding do so, still less factual knowledge, if separated from good desired by the will.

[5] Because watchfulness and providence guarding against access to the Lord, or for that reason to heaven, except through the good of love is meant by 'the cherubs', the Word says that Jehovah is seated on the cherubs, also rides and dwells upon the cherubs, as in David,

Turn Your ears, O Shepherd of Israel; You who are seated upon the cherubs, shine forth. Psalms 80:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah will reign, the peoples will be shaken. He is seated on the cherubs. Psalms 99:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah rode on a cherub, and flew. Psalms 18:10.

And in Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth is dwelling on the cherubs. Isaiah 37:16.

For the same reasons there were cherubs upon the curtains of the dwelling-place, and upon the veil, Exodus 26:1, 31; 36:35; they were also upon the walls of the temple round about and upon the doors there, 1 Kings 6:23-29, 31-35, and similarly in the new temple, as described in Ezekiel 41:18-20. The presence of the cherubs on the curtains of the dwelling-place, on the veil, on the walls of the temple, and on the doors there, was a sign of the Lord's watchfulness, guarding against access to Divine Holiness except through the good of love; and the presence of the cherubs over the ark was a sign that no one should gain access to the Lord Himself except through that good. This also explains why the cherubs were made from solid gold, and in the Jerusalem temple from olive wood; for 'gold' and 'olive oil' mean the good of love.

[6] That watchfulness and providence of the Lord is described in Ezekiel by 'the four living creatures', each of which had four faces, under the throne where the Lord was, Ezekiel 1:1-end; 10:1-end, and also in John by 'four living creatures' around the throne where the Lord was, 10:Revelation 4:6-10; 5:6, 8-9, 14. By 'the four living creatures' is meant the good, varying in appearance, which emanates from the Lord, and which watches and guards against the letting in of anything other than the good of love to the Lord and the good of love towards the neighbour. By 'the throne' on which the Lord was seated heaven is meant, 5313.

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