9493. 'And you shall cast four rings of gold for it' means Divine Truth joined to Divine Good, which lie in every direction round about. This is clear from the meaning of 'rings' as the joining together of good and truth, at this point the joining of Divine Truth to Divine Good, since 'the ark' means heaven where the Lord is, see below in 9496. The reason why the rings were four was that this number means a joining together, 1686, 8877, and the reason why they were made of gold was that 'gold' means good, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, good being what truth is joined to, since the good is so to speak the soil and the truth so to speak the seed.

1686. 'Four kings with five' means the union existing with the latter four and the lack of union with the other five. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'four' and from the meaning of 'five'. Consisting of two pairs, 'four' means union, as also does two when it has regard to things that are married, as also noted in 720. 'Five' however means disunity because it is associated with fewness, as shown in 649. All things depend for their particular meanings on the subjects to which they refer.