9636. Ten cubits shall be the length of a plank. That this signifies this good the all in all, is evident from the signification of “ten,” as being all (see n. 4638, 9595); and from the signification of “length,” as being good (n. 1613, 8898, 9487, 9600), here the good which supports, which is the good of merit; for this is signified by the planks of the Habitation being made of shittim wood (n. 9635). That this good is the all in all of heaven, is because this good is the very Divine good which makes the heavens and sustains them (n. 9486); for the good which is with the angels is good itself, because all good is from the Lord; good from any other source is not good.

5708. Five measures. That this signifies much increased, is evident from the signification of “five,” as being much (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “measures,” as being states of truth from good (see n. 3104). As regards “five,” it is a number that signifies a little, likewise some, and also much. Its signification depends upon its relation to the number of which it is a part (n. 5291): as a part of “ten” it involves the same as ten, but in a less degree, because it is half of the number ten; for as numbers formed by multiplication signify the like with their simple numbers (see n. 5291, 5335), so numbers produced by division signify the like as their multiples-for instance “five” the same as “ten” and as “twenty” and also as “one hundred” and “one thousand,” and so on. (That “ten” denotes what is full may be seen above, n. 3107, 4638.) Five more measures were given to Benjamin than to the rest of his brethren because of the signification of the matter in the internal sense; ten measures could not have been given, for they would have been far too much. By traditions from the Most Ancient Church the ancients knew what some numbers signified, and therefore they made use of these numbers when anything occurred which they might serve to signify, as here the number “five;” and in other cases they applied several other numbers, as “three” to signify what is full from beginning to end; “seven” to signify what is holy; “twelve” to signify all things in their complex.