10276. And thou shalt sanctify them, and they shall be a holy of holies. That this signifies in this way the influx and presence of the Lord in the worship of the representative church, is evident from the signification of “to be sanctified,” as being to represent the Lord as to the Divine Human, and the reception of Divine good and Divine truth from Him; for the Lord alone is holy, and consequently that only is holy which proceeds from Him; from which it is plain that by “being sanctified” is also signified the influx and presence of the Lord in the worship of the representative church. (That “to be sanctified” denotes to represent the Lord as to the Divine Human, see n. 9956, 9988, 10069; and also the reception of Divine good and Divine truth from Him, n. 8806, 9820, 10128; that the Lord alone is holy, and only that is holy which proceeds from Him, n. 9229, 9479, 9680, 9818; thus that the holy things with the Israelitish and Jewish nation were representatively holy, n. 10149.) And from the signification of “a holy of holies,” as being Divine celestial good (n. 10129).

[2] From this it is evident that all those things which were anointed were called “holy of holies” from the influx and presence of the Divine Human of the Lord; and all influx and presence of the Lord takes place immediately, and in the lower heavens also mediately through celestial good, which is the good of the inmost heaven. Therefore insofar as the goods of the lower heavens contain and store up within them celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, so far they are goods. From this it is that those things which were anointed were called “holy of holies.” (Concerning the immediate and mediate influx of the Lord, see the places cited in n. 9682, 9683.)

[3] But in order that it may be known how the case herein is, it is necessary to know what representation is, and what a representative church is. What these are has been abundantly shown in the places cited in n. 9229, 9280, 10030; but as at the present day few know what these are, the subject may be somewhat further illustrated. It is the affections of good and truth from the Lord which make the life and happiness of the angels in the inmost heavens. In the ultimate heaven these affections are presented with infinite variety in countless outward forms. Whatever they see there with their eyes is from this source. These are representatives of interior things, which are the affections of good and truth, and are called celestial and spiritual.

[4] The good spirits who as subjects perceive the holy things of heaven in these representatives, are interiorly affected. For example, they see paradises with trees and fruits of countless species, also beds of roses, lawns, fields with things sown in them, houses and palaces, and very many other things, all of which correspond to the affections of good and of truth that are from the Lord in the higher heavens. In these heavens also there are representatives, but such as immeasurably surpass in perfection, delight, and happiness those which are in the ultimate heaven. It is these representatives of which it is said that “no eye hath ever seen” such things; and if anything were told of them it would exceed human belief.

[5] From this it can be seen what representatives are. All the representatives instituted with the Israelitish nation were like those in the ultimate heaven; but were less perfect, because they were in the nature of this world. Such were the Tent with the ark, the table upon which were the breads of faces, the lampstand and its lamps, the altar of incense, the garments of Aaron and his sons, and afterward the temple with the adytum there containing the ark upon which were the propitiatory and the cherubs, also the brazen sea, the lavers, and other similar things. Yet countless more things appear in the ultimate heaven, and in greater excellence and perfection. It was from this heaven that the things to be instituted with the Israelitish nation were shown by the Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai. (See Exodus 25:40; 26:30; 27:8.) But these things were not seen by Moses with the eyes of his body, but with the eyes of his spirit.

[6] The nature of representatives can be seen further from the things seen by the prophets; as by Daniel, by John in Revelation, and by the rest; all of which store up within them Divine spiritual and celestial things that anyone can see are not intelligible without interpretation from the internal sense.

[7] From all this it is now further evident what a representative church is. This church was established in the land of Canaan chiefly for the sake of the Word, in order that this might be written by means of representatives and significatives, thus by means of such things as existed with that nation, in their church, and in their land. For from the most ancient times all the places in the land of Canaan, and all the mountains and rivers there, represented such things as are in the heavens (see n. 3686, 4240, 4447, 4454, 5136, 6516); as did afterward the inheritances, the tribes, and all other things there. Of such things was the literal sense of the Word of the Old Testament, in order that there might be some ultimate in which the interior things might close, and upon which they might stand, like a building on its foundation (see n. 9360, 9824, 10044).

[8] From all this an intelligent person is able to know that the Word is most holy, and that its literal sense is holy from its internal sense, but that apart from this it is not holy. For apart from the internal sense the literal sense is like the external of man separated from his internal, which is a mock appearance devoid of life, and is like the peel of a tree, flower, fruit, or seed, without anything inside; and is also like a foundation without a house. Therefore they who lay stress on the sense of the letter of the Word alone, and neither have, nor procure for themselves from the Word, doctrine that is in agreement with its internal sense, can be drawn into any heresies whatever. It is from this that the Word is called by such the Book of Heresies. The very doctrine from the Word must by all means give light and guidance. This very doctrine is taught by the internal sense, and he who knows this doctrine, has the internal sense of the Word.

[9] As the Jewish nation did not acknowledge anything holy in the Word except in the mere sense of its letter, which they completely separated from the internal sense, they fell into such darkness that they did not recognize the Lord when He came into the world. At the present day that nation is of the same character, and therefore although they live among Christians they nevertheless still do not acknowledge the Lord from the Word. (That from the earliest time that nation was in external things without internal, see what has been shown in the places cited in n. 9320, 9380.) Therefore unless the Lord had come into the world and opened the interior things of the Word, the communication with the heavens by means of the Word would have been broken; and then the human race on this earth would have perished, for man can think no truth and do no good except from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; and the Word is that which opens heaven.

9683. And thou shalt put the table outside the veil. That this signifies influx through the celestial things that belong to love, is evident from the signification of “the table on which were the breads of faces,” as being the receptacle of celestial things (n. 9527, 9545); and from the signification of “outside the veil,” as being outside the uniting intermediate through which there is mediate influx; for by “the veil” is signified the uniting intermediate (n. 9670), and because that table was behind the veil, therefore there was signified influx through the celestial things of the inmost heaven, which are the goods of love. That there is mediate influx from the Lord through the inmost heaven, and immediate influx from Himself, can be seen from the places above cited (n. 9682 e). With every good which makes heavenly life, thus eternal life, with man and with angel, the case is this. The inmost of good is the Lord Himself, consequently is the good of love which is immediately from Him; the good which next succeeds is the good of mutual love; then the good of charity toward the neighbor; finally the good of faith. This is the successive order of goods from the inmost. From this it can be seen how the case is with immediate and mediate influx. In general it may be said that insofar as a good succeeding in order (that is, a more external good), has in it a more interior good, so far it is good, for insofar it is nearer to the Lord Himself, who, as before said, is the inmost good. But the successive arrangement and setting in order of interior goods in exterior, varies in each and all subjects according to the reception, and the reception is according to the spiritual and moral life in the world of everyone, for the life in the world remains with everyone to eternity.

[2] The influx of the Lord is also immediate with everyone, for without immediate influx the mediate effects nothing. Immediate influx is received according to the order in which the man or angel is, thus according to the Divine truth which is from the Divine, because this is order (n. 1728, 1919, 2447, 4839, 5703, 7995, 8512, 8513, 8700, 8988); and so it is order itself with man that he should live in the good which is from the Lord, that is, that he should live from the Lord. This influx is continual, and is adjoined to each and all things of the will of man, directing them as much as possible into order, for man’s own will is continually leading him away from order. It is the same with the voluntary and involuntary things in man. His voluntary things continually lead away from order, but the involuntary ones continually bring back to order. It is for this reason that the motion of the heart, which is involuntary, is completely removed from man’s will, and in like manner the action of the cerebellum; and that the motions of the heart, and the powers of the cerebellum, direct the voluntary things, to prevent them from rushing beyond bounds and extinguishing the life of the body before its time; and therefore the primal activities of both the involuntary and the voluntary things in the whole body go on conjointly. These things have been said in order in some measure to illustrate the idea about the immediate and the mediate influx of the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith from the Lord.