2187. And they ate symbolizes the communication that resulted. This can be seen from the symbolism of eating as being communicated and also united–another symbolism evident in the Word.

The food consecrated by sacrifice that Aaron, his sons, the Levites, and the people ate in a holy place actually symbolized what is communicated to us, binds us together, and becomes our own. (This was said above at §2177 at the passage from Leviticus 6:16, 17.) Heavenly and spiritual nourishment was what the consecrated food they were eating symbolized, so [eating it symbolized] making it their ow{ign21} The consecrated food came from the sacrifices that were not burned on the altar, and it was eaten either by the priests or by the people who had offered it. The many places that deal with sacrifices make this clear. Exodus 29:32, 33; Leviticus 6:16, 26; 7:6, 15, 16, 18; 8:31; 10:12, 13; and Numbers 18:9, 10, 11 say what the priests were to eat. Leviticus 19:5, 6; Deuteronomy 12:27; 27:7 and other passages tell what the people were to eat. Leviticus 7:19, 20, 21; and 22:4, 5, 6, 7 prohibited unclean people from eating it. The feasts were held in a holy place next to the altar, either at the doorway or in the courtyard of the tabernacle. Again, they simply symbolized heavenly kinds of good that are communicated to us, bind us together, and become our own, because they represented heavenly food. For a definition of heavenly food, see §§56, 57, 58, 680, 681, 1480, 1695. All of them were called bread, for the symbolism of which, see above at §2165. The fact that Aaron and his sons ate the loaves of showbread (or bread of presence) in a holy place (Leviticus 24:9) represented something similar.

[2] A law was laid down for Nazirites that they should not eat anything that came out of the wine-producing grape, from berries to skin, during the days of their Naziriteship (Numbers 6:4). The reason was that a Nazirite represented a heavenly person, and heavenly people by their very nature do not like even to mention spiritual things, as may be seen in §§202, 337, 880 (at the end), 1647 of the first two volumes. Wine and grapes and everything made from grapes symbolized something spiritual, so Nazirites were forbidden to eat any of it. In other words, they were forbidden to have any communication with it, unite with it, or make it their own.

[3] Eating has a similar meaning in Isaiah:

Everyone who is thirsty, come to the water, and whoever does not have silver, come, buy and eat! And come, without silver and without the price buy wine and milk! Why do you weigh out silver for what is not bread and labor for what does not satisfy? Listen closely to me and eat what is good, and your soul will revel in the fat. (Isaiah 55:1, 2)

So does the following instance in John:

Those who conquer I will grant to eat from the tree of life that is in the middle of God's paradise. (Revelation 2:7)

The tree of life is heavenliness itself and in the highest sense the Lord himself, since he is the source of everything heavenly, or in other words, of all love and charity. Eating from the tree of life, then, is the same as feeding on the Lord, and feeding on the Lord is receiving the gift of love and charity. So it is receiving the ingredients of heavenly life. As the Lord himself says in John:

"I am the living bread who came down from heaven; if any eat of this bread, they will live forever. Those who feed on me, they will live through me." (John 6:51, 57)

But they said, "This saying is hard." But Jesus said, "The words that I am speaking to you are spirit and are life." (John 6:60, 63)

This shows what eating means in the Holy Supper (Matthew 26:26, 27, 28; Mark 14:22, 23; Luke 22:19, 20); specifically, having communication, uniting, and taking things into oneself.

[4] These considerations also clarify what it means that the Lord said, "Many will come from east and west and recline at [the table] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Matthew 8:11). The meaning is not that they will eat with them in God's kingdom but that they will enjoy the heavenly goodness symbolized by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They will enjoy the deepest heavenly qualities of love (Abraham); lower ones, which are intermediate, like those of the rational mind (Isaac); and still lower ones, which are heavenly qualities of the earthly kind that exist in the first heaven (meant by Jacob). That is the inner sense of these words. The fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are these types of goodness may be seen in §1893 and everywhere else that they are discussed. It is all the same whether you speak of benefiting from that heavenly goodness or of benefiting from the Lord, whom the patriarchs represent; all heavenly goodness comes from the Lord, and the Lord is its all in all.