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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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Sacred Scripture # 97

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97. Further still, we need to realize that the literal meaning of the Word serves to protect the real truths that lie hidden within it. Its protection consists of its being susceptible to being turned in different directions and interpreted to agree with our own grasp of it, so that the inner content is not damaged or transgressed. It does no harm if different people understand the literal meaning of the Word differently. It does do harm, though, if the divine truths that lie hidden within are distorted. This in fact does violence to the Word.

To prevent this from happening, the literal meaning offers protection, and it offers protection for people who take for granted the false beliefs of their religion but do not convince themselves that those false beliefs are true. These people do no harm.

[2] This protection is the meaning of angel guardians in the Word, and the description of angel guardians [in Ezekiel] is a depiction of this protection.

This protection is the meaning of the angel guardians stationed at the entrance after Adam and his wife were expelled from the Garden of Eden, of whom we read,

When Jehovah God drove them out, he made angel guardians dwell to the east of the Garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword turning this way and that, to guard the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)

The angel guardians mean protection; the way of the tree of life means entrance to the Lord, which we have through the Word; the flame of a sword turning this way and that means divine truth at its very boundaries, which is like the Word in its literal meaning - it too can be turned this way and that.

[3] There is a similar meaning to the angel guardians of gold placed on top of the two ends of the mercy seat that was on the ark in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-21). Because this was what the angel guardians meant, the Lord talked with Moses between them (Exodus 25:22; 37:9; Numbers 7:89). As noted in §§37-49 above, the Lord does not say anything to us unless it is complete, and divine truth is in its fullness in the literal meaning of the Word; so that is why the Lord talked with Moses between the angel guardians.

The meaning of the angel guardians on the curtains of the tabernacle and on its veils (Exodus 26:31) is no different, since the curtains and veils represent the boundaries of heaven and the church and therefore of the Word as well (see §46 above). The meaning of the angel guardians in the middle of the Jerusalem temple (1 Kings 6:23-28) and the angel guardians carved on the walls and gates of the Temple (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35) is no different either. The same holds for the angel guardians in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20; again, see §47 above).

[4] Since the angel guardians mean protection that keeps us from going straight to the Lord, heaven, and the divine truth of the Word as it is inwardly, and makes us instead move indirectly through its outermost forms, we read of the King of Tyre,

You had sealed your full measure and were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was your covering. You, angel guardian, were the spreading of a covering. I destroyed you, covering angel guardian, in the midst of stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

Tyre means the church in respect to its concepts of what is true and good, so the king of Tyre means the Word where these concepts can be found and where they come from. We can see that Tyre and the protecting angel guardians here mean the Word in its outermost form, which is its literal meaning, because it says “you had sealed your full measure,” “every precious stone was your covering,” and “you, angel guardian, were the spreading of a covering, ” as well as mentioning a “covering angel guardian.” The precious stones that are also mentioned mean truths of the literal meaning of the Word (see §45 above).

Since angel guardians mean the outermost form of divine truth as protection, it says in David,

Jehovah bowed the heavens and came down, riding upon angel guardians. (Psalms 18:9-10)

O Shepherd of Israel, who sits upon the angel guardians, shine forth! (Psalms 80:1)

and

... Jehovah who sits upon the angel guardians. (Psalms 99:1)

To ride and to sit upon angel guardians is [to rest] on the outermost meaning of the Word.

[5] The divine truth in the Word and its nature are described [through correspondences] as angel guardians in chapters 1, 9, and 10 of Ezekiel; but since no one can know what the details of the description mean except those for whom the spiritual meaning has been opened, the meaning of all the things it says about the angel guardians in the first chapter of Ezekiel has been disclosed to me in summary form, as follows:

There is a depiction of the outward divine aura of the Word (verse 4); that aura is represented as a human being (verse 5); it is shown to be united to spiritual and heavenly realities (verse 6). There is a depiction of the nature of the earthly level of the Word (verse 7), and of the nature of the spiritual and heavenly levels of the Word that are united to its earthly level (verses 8-9). There is a depiction of the divine love within the heavenly, spiritual, and earthly levels of goodness and truth in the Word, together as one and also distinct from one another (verses 10-11), and an indication that they share a common goal (verse 12). There is a depiction of the aura of the Word that comes from the Lord’s divine goodness and divine truth, which give life to the Word (verses 13-14), of the teachings of what is good and true that are in the Word and from the Word (verses 15-21), and of the divine nature of the Lord that is above it and within it (verses 22-23) and that comes from it (verses 24-25). It is shown that the Lord is above the heavens (verse 26) and that to him belong divine love and divine wisdom (verses 27-28).

These summary statements have been checked against the Word in heaven and are in accord with it.

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