In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's presence." It takes on a deeper significance, though, when used in connection with the Lord. To be "before" the Lord means not just in His presence, but also receiving the desire for good and the understanding of truth from Him, and living according to them. And when used as an assessment of time in connection with the Lord, "before" means "from eternity," and refers to a spiritual state rather than time as we experience it.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Revealed 366, 617; Arcana Coelestia 6983, 8439, 9888)

9887. 'And put them onto the shoulders of the ephod' means the support given thereby to heaven, and the preservation of the good and truth there by all exertion and power. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting onto the shoulders of the ephod' as the support given to good and truth in the heavens, and the preservation of them. Regarding that support, see immediately above in 9886; and regarding that preservation by all exertion and power, 9836. The reason why the support given to heaven by means of the Divine emanating from the Lord and also the preservation of the good and truth there are meant is that 'the breastplate', which was tied to the shoulder-pieces of the ephod by means of the slender ropes, and thereby supported, means the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, 9823, and so means all the forms of good and the truths in their entirety which make heaven, 9879.