2342. And baked unleavened [bread]. That this signifies purification, is evident from the signification of “unleavened” or “unfermented.” In the Word “bread” signifies in general all celestial and spiritual food, thus celestial and spiritual things in general (see n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177). That these should be free from everything impure was represented by bread without leaven; for “leaven” signifies that which is evil and false, by which celestial and spiritual things are rendered impure and profane. On account of this representation it was commanded those who were of the Representative Church that in their sacrifices they should not offer any other bread, that is, meat-offering, than that which was unfermented or unleavened; as is evident in Moses:

No meat-offering which ye shall bring to Jehovah shall be made with leaven (Leviticus 2:11).

Again:

Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice with what is leavened (Exodus 23:18; 24:25).

[2] And it was therefore also commanded, that on the seven days of the Passover they should not eat any other than unfermented or unleavened bread, as stated in Moses:

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened [bread]; even on the first day ye shall cause leaven to cease from your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened [bread], until the one and twentieth day of the month at even; seven days shall no leaven be found in your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, that soul also shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner or born in the land (Exodus 12:15, 18-20; and elsewhere, as Exodus 13:6-7; 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:3-4).

Hence the Passover is called the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Leviticus 23:6; Numbers 28:16-17; Matthew 26:17; Luke 22:1, 7).

[3] That the Passover represented the Lord’s glorification, and thereby the conjunction of the Divine with the human race, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown elsewhere; and as the Lord’s conjunction with the human race is effected through love and charity and the faith thence derived, these celestial and spiritual things were represented by the unleavened bread that they were to eat on the day of the Passover; and lest these things should be contaminated by anything profane, that which was leavened was so severely interdicted that whoever should eat of it was to be cut off; for whoever profanes celestial and spiritual things cannot fail to perish. Everyone can see that apart from this secret meaning, this ceremonial, to which there was attached so severe a penalty, would never have been given.

[4] Everything that was commanded in that church represented some secret thing, even the very cooking, as was the case with every particular of what the sons of Israel did when they went forth from Egypt; to wit:

They shall eat on that night flesh roasted with fire, and unleavened bread upon bitter herbs; they shall not eat it raw, nor boiled in water; the head shall be on the legs; they shall not leave of it until the morning, but shall burn the residue with fire (Exodus 12:8-10).

These particulars, namely, that they should eat it by night, the flesh roasted with fire, the unleavened bread upon bitter herbs, the head on the legs, not raw, nor boiled in water, that they should not leave of it until the morning, and that they should burn the residue with fire, were representative. But the arcana represented cannot possibly appear unless disclosed by the internal sense; it is from this sense alone that it can be seen that all things are Divine.

[5] In like manner with the ritual in regard to the Nazirite:

The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of a ram, and one unleavened cake out of a basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the palms of the Nazirite, after he has shaved his nazariteship (Numbers 6:19).

He who does not know that the Nazirite represented the celestial man himself, does not know that celestial things, thus arcana which do not appear in the letter, are enfolded within all these particulars, namely, the boiled shoulder of a ram, the unleavened cake, the unleavened wafer, and the shaving of the hair; which shows what kind of an opinion concerning the Word must be formed by those who do not believe that it contains an internal sense; for without what is internal these are particulars of no moment: whereas when the ceremonial or ritual is removed, everything there becomes Divine and holy. The same is the case with everything else, as here with the unleavened bread, which denotes the holy of love, or a holy of holies, as it is likewise called in Moses:

The unleavened bread that is left shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a place of holiness, for it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:16-17).

The “unleavened bread” therefore denotes pure love; and the “baking of what is unleavened” denotes purification.

2177. That the “meal of fine flour” denotes the spiritual and the celestial which were then with the Lord, and that “cakes” denote the same when both are conjoined, is very evident from the sacrifices of the Representative Church, and from the meat-offering then made use of, which consisted of fine flour mingled with oil and made into cakes. The chief part of representative worship consisted in burnt-offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has already been stated, where bread is treated of (n. 2165), namely, the celestial things of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and of the Lord’s kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church), and also those of the Lord’s kingdom or church with each person; and in general all the things of love and charity, because these are celestial. All these offerings and sacrifices were at that time called “bread,” and to them was adjoined the meat-offering also, which, as already said, consisted of fine flour mingled with oil, to which frankincense was likewise added, as well as a libation of wine.

[2] What these represented is also evident, namely, similar things as the sacrifices, but in a less degree, thus the things which are of the spiritual church, and likewise those of the external church. Everyone can see that such things would never have been commanded unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represents something special and peculiar, for unless they had represented Divine things, they would not have differed from similar things in use among the Gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices—meat-offerings, libations, frankincense, perpetual fires, and many other things, derived to them from the Ancient Church, and especially from the Hebrew Church. But as internal things (that is, the Divine things that were represented) were separated from these Gentile rites, they were merely idolatrous, as also they became with the Jews, who for this reason fell into all kinds of idolatry. From what has been said everyone can see that there were heavenly arcana in every rite, especially in the sacrifices and all their particulars.

[3] As regards the meat-offering, the nature of it and how it was to be prepared into cakes, is described in a whole chapter in Moses (Leviticus 2; also in Numbers 15, and elsewhere). The law of the meat-offering is described in Leviticus in these words:

Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually, it shall not go out. And this is the law of the meat-offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it before Jehovah to the faces of the altar; and he shall take therefrom his handful of the fine flour of the meat-offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar, an odor of rest, for a memorial unto Jehovah; and the residue thereof Aaron and his sons shall eat; unleavened shall they be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be baked leavened; I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:13-17).

[4] The fire which must be kept burning upon the altar continually, represented the love, that is, the mercy of the Lord, perpetual and eternal. That in the Word “fire” signifies love, see n. 934; hence “offerings made by fire for an odor of rest” signify the Lord’s pleasure in the things which are of love and charity. (That “odor” denotes what is well-pleasing, that is, what is grateful, see n. 925, 1519.) Their “taking a handful” represented that they should love with all the strength, or with all the soul; for the hand, or the palm of the hand, signifies power (as shown n. 878), from which “handful” also signifies power. The fine flour, with the oil and the frankincense, represented all things of charity-the fine flour the spiritual, and the oil the celestial of charity, the frankincense what was in this manner grateful. (That fine flour represents what is spiritual, is evident from what has just been said, and from what follows; that oil represents what is celestial, or the good of charity, may be seen above, n. 886; and also that frankincense, from its odor, represents what is grateful and acceptable, n. 925.)

[5] Its being “unleavened,” or not fermented, signifies that it should be sincere, and thus from a sincere heart, and free from uncleanness. That Aaron and his sons should eat the residue, represented man’s reciprocality and his appropriation, thus conjunction through love and charity; on which account it was commanded that they should eat it in a holy place. Hence it is called a “holy of holies.” These were the things that were represented by the meat-offering; and the representatives themselves were so perceived in heaven; and when the man of the church so apprehended them, he was then in an idea similar to the perception of the angels, thus he was in the Lord’s kingdom itself in the heavens although he was on earth.

[6] The meat-offering is further treated of, as regards what it ought to be in connection with each kind of sacrifice, and how it should be baked into cakes, also what kind should be offered by those who were being cleansed, and what on other occasions; to mention and explain all of which would be too tedious; but concerning all these matters see Exodus 29:39-41; Leviticus 5:11-13; 6:14-23; 10:12-13; 23:10-13, 23:16-17; Numbers 5:15, etc.; 6:15-17, 19-20, 7:1-89, in several places; 28:5, 7, 9, 12-13, 20-21, 28-29; 29:3-4, 9-10, 14-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37.

[7] Fine flour made into cakes in general represented the same as bread, namely, the celestial of love, and meal the spiritual of it, as is evident from the passages cited above. The “breads” [or loaves] that were called the “bread of faces,” or the “show bread” [panis propositionis], were made of fine flour, which was prepared in cakes and placed upon the table, for a perpetual representation of the love, that is, the mercy, of the Lord toward the universal human race, and the reciprocality of man. Concerning these loaves we read as follows in Moses:

Thou shalt take fine flour and shalt bake it into twelve cakes; of two tenths shall one cake be; and thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the clean table, before Jehovah; and thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, and it shall be to the breads for a memorial, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. On every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel in a covenant of eternity. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is a holy of holies unto him, of the offerings made by fire unto Jehovah by a statute of eternity (Leviticus 24:5-9).

Every particular in this description and all the smallest details represented the holy of love and of charity, the “fine flour” the same as the “meal of fine flour,” namely, the celestial and its spiritual, and the “cake” the two conjoined.

[8] Hence it is evident what is the holiness of the Word to those who are in heavenly ideas, nay, what holiness there was in this very representative rite, on account of which it is called a holiness of holinesses; and on the contrary, how void of holiness it is to those who suppose that there is nothing heavenly in these things, and who abide solely in the externals; as do they who perceive the meal here merely as meal, the fine flour as fine flour, and the cake as a cake, and who suppose these things to have been stated without each particular involving something of the Divine. These do in like manner as do those who think the bread and wine of the Holy Supper to be nothing but a certain rite, containing nothing holy within; whereas there is such holiness that human minds are by that Supper conjoined with heavenly minds, when from internal affection they are thinking that the bread and wine signify the Lord’s love and the reciprocality of man, and are thus in holiness from interior thought and feeling.

[9] The like was involved in that the sons of Israel on their coming into the land of Canaan were to offer a cake of the first of their dough, as a heave-offering unto Jehovah (Numbers 15:20). That such things are signified is also evident in the Prophets, from which we may at present adduce only this from Ezekiel:

Thou wast decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was fine linen and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil, and thou wast become beautiful very exceedingly, and thou wast prospered unto a kingdom (Ezekiel 16:13); where the subject treated of is Jerusalem, by which is signified the church, that was so decked in its earliest time-that is, the Ancient Church-and which is described by the garments and other ornaments; as also its affections of truth and good by the fine flour, honey, and oil. Everyone can see that all these things have a very different meaning in the internal sense from that in the sense of the letter. And so have these words which Abraham said to Sarah: “Make ready quickly three measures of the meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes.” (That “three” signifies holy things has been shown before, n. 720, 901)