10131. 'And this is what you shall offer on the altar' means that which has regard in general to reception of the Lord in heaven and in the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'this is what you shall offer on the altar' as that which has regard in general to reception of the Lord in the heavens; for 'the altar' means what is Divine and the Lord's in the heavens, 10129, thus also the reception of Him, while 'this you shall offer on it' means that which has regard in general [to the reception]. For the words that come next refer to the burnt offerings of lambs that were to be presented daily, and these offerings represent in general that which has regard to reception of the Lord. By 'lambs' the good of innocence is meant, and the good of innocence is the one and only thing that receives the Lord. For without the good of innocence there can be no love to the Lord, nor can there be any charity towards the neighbour or any faith that has life within it; in general there can be no good that has what is Divine within it, see the places referred to in 10021. This is why 'this you shall offer on the altar' means that which has regard in general to reception of the Lord in heaven and in the Church. When the word 'heaven' is used the Church should also be understood, since the Lord's heaven on earth is the Church, and each individual person in whom the Church exists has heaven as well within him; for the Lord is within him, and where the Lord is, so is heaven. Furthermore the Church makes one with heaven, for they are linked together inseparably and are dependent each on the other. The Word is what joins them together; the Word has the Lord within it, and the Lord is the Word, John 1:1ff.

7171. It should be recognized that the sun in this world is not at all visible to any spirit, nor is any light from it visible; for the light of the sun is to spirits like thick darkness. It remains only in spirits' minds, as a result of their having seen it when they were in the world; and the picture of it which presents itself in their minds is a kind of dark patch, a considerable distance away behind them, at a height slightly above head-level. The planets within the solar system appear in fixed positions in relation to the sun - Mercury behind it, slightly to the right; the planet Venus on the left, slightly to the rear; the planet Mars on the left, out in front; the planet Jupiter similarly out in front on the left, but further away; the planet Saturn directly in front, but a considerable distance away; the Moon on the left, quite high up; and other satellites too are on the left of their own planets. This is the way that the planets are aligned in spirits and angels' ideas about them. Also spirits are seen close to their own planet; but they remain outside it.