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Exodus 26

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1 And thou shalt make the Habitation, ten curtains; of fine· twined ·linen, and blue, and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed, with cherubim, the work of a thinker, shalt thou make them.

2 The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits; and the breadth four cubits, for one curtain; one measure for all the curtains.

3 Five curtains shall be coupled one to the other*; and five curtains shall be coupled one to the other.

4 And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the lip of the one curtain at the edge in the coupling, and so shalt thou do in the lip of the curtain at the edge in the second coupling.

5 Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and Fifty loops shalt thou make in the extremity of the curtain who is in the second coupling; the loops shall be received one to the other.

6 And thou shalt make fifty clasps of gold, and shalt couple the curtains one to the other by the clasps, and it shall be one Habitation.

7 And thou shalt make curtains of goatswool for a tent over the Habitation; eleven curtains shalt thou make them.

8 The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth four cubits, for one curtain; one measure for the eleven curtains.

9 And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain over against the faces of the Tabernacle.

10 And thou shalt make fifty loops on the lip of the one curtain at the edge in the coupling, and fifty loops on the lip of the curtain of the second coupling.

11 And thou shalt make fifty clasps of bronze, and shalt bring the clasps into the loops, and shalt couple the Tabernacle, that it may be one.

12 And the drape left·​·over in the curtains of the Tabernacle, the half of the curtain left·​·over, thou shalt drape over the back-parts of the Habitation.

13 And the cubit from this side, and the cubit from that, in what is left·​·over in the length of the curtains of the Tabernacle, shall drape over the sides of the Habitation, from this side and from that, to cover it.

14 And thou shalt make for the Tabernacle a covering of skins of red rams, and a covering of the skins of badgers from above.

15 And thou shalt make the planks for the Habitation of shittim* wood, standing up.

16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a plank, and a cubit and half a cubit the breadth of one plank.

17 Two hands shall there be for one plank connected, each to the other; so shalt thou make for all the planks of the Habitation.

18 And thou shalt make the planks for the Habitation, twenty planks for the quarter of the south toward the south.

19 And thou shalt make forty bases of silver under the twenty planks; two bases under one plank for its two hands, and two bases under one plank for its two hands.

20 And for the second rib of the Habitation, at the quarter of the north, twenty planks;

21 and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one plank, and two bases under one plank.

22 And for the two flanks of the Habitation toward the sea thou shalt make six planks.

23 And two planks shalt thou make for the edges of the Habitation in the two flanks.

24 And they shall be twinned from below, and they shall be twinned together at the head of it to one ring; so shall it be for the two of them; they shall be at the two edges*.

25 And there shall be eight planks, and their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one plank, and two bases under one plank.

26 And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the planks of the one rib of the Habitation;

27 and five bars for the planks of the second rib of the Habitation, and five bars for the planks of the rib of the Habitation at the two·​·flanks toward the sea*.

28 And the middle bar in the middle of the planks shall pass through from extremity to extremity.

29 And thou shalt overlay the planks with gold, and make their rings of gold, houses for the bars; and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

30 And thou shalt raise·​·up the Habitation according·​·to the manner which thou wast made to see in the mountain.

31 And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed, and fine· twined ·linen; the work of a thinker shall he make it, with cherubim;

32 and thou shalt put it on four pillars of shittim overlaid with gold, and their links of gold, on four bases of silver.

33 And thou shalt put the veil under the clasps, and shalt bring in thither inside the veil the ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall make·​·a·​·distinction for you between the holy place and the holy of holies.

34 And thou shalt put the place of atonement upon the ark of the Testimony in the holy of the holies.

35 And thou shalt set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the rib of the Habitation toward the south; and thou shalt put the table on the north rib.

36 And thou shalt make a sheltering for the entrance of the Tabernacle of blue, and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed, and fine· twined ·linen, the work of the embroiderer.

37 And thou shalt make for the sheltering five pillars of shittim, and overlay them with gold; and their links shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast for them five bases of bronze.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9509

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9509. 'And you shall make two cherubs' means that there is no admission or access to the Lord except through the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'cherubs' as watchfulness and providence, guarding against access to the Lord except through the good of love. Since this was meant by the cherubs, they were placed over the mercy-seat that was over the ark; and they were for the same reason made from solid gold. For 'the ark' means heaven where the Lord is, 9485, and 'gold' means the good of love, 9490. The reason why there is no access to the Lord except through the good of love is that love is spiritual togetherness, and all good belongs to love. Those therefore who are governed by the good of love to the Lord are brought to Him in heaven, because they have been joined together with Him. So too are those who are governed by the good of love towards the neighbour; for the neighbour is the good of a fellow-citizen, the good of one's country, the good of the Church, the good of the whole of the Lord's kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself since He is the source of that good present with a person.

[2] There are two states that a person passes through while being regenerated, one of which follows the other. The first is a state during which he is led by means of the truths of faith to the good of love; the other is one in which he is governed by the good of love, and when governed by it he is in heaven with the Lord. From this it is evident that this good is heaven itself present with the person, that good being the Lord present with him because its source is the Lord. Regarding these two states that a person who is being regenerated passes through, one of which follows the other, see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 9224, 9227, 9230, 9274; and the fact that a person comes into heaven when governed by good, that is, when led by the Lord by means of good, 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139.

[3] It is clear from places in the Word where 'cherubs' are mentioned that they mean watchfulness and providence, guarding against access to the Lord or to heaven except through the good of love, that is, except by those governed by the good of love, and also guarding against any harm being done to the good from the Lord which is present in heaven and with a person, as for instance in Genesis,

And He expelled the man, and away from the east towards the garden of Eden He caused the cherubs to dwell, and the flame of a sword turning itself this way and that to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24.

Here it is self-evident that things which serve as guards are meant by 'the cherubs', since it says 'to guard the way to the tree of life'. 'The tree of life' is the good of love, which comes from the Lord and for that reason is the Lord; and it is guarded by the prevention of any access except through the good of love.

[4] It is thought that the Lord is accessible through the truths of faith. But there can be no access to Him, nor even to heaven, through those truths if they have been separated from the good of love. As soon as separated truths wish to enter, heaven, which is the way to the Lord, is closed. And since truth cannot enter by itself unless it has good within it, and by virtue of this has come to consist of good, neither can understanding do so, still less factual knowledge, if separated from good desired by the will.

[5] Because watchfulness and providence guarding against access to the Lord, or for that reason to heaven, except through the good of love is meant by 'the cherubs', the Word says that Jehovah is seated on the cherubs, also rides and dwells upon the cherubs, as in David,

Turn Your ears, O Shepherd of Israel; You who are seated upon the cherubs, shine forth. Psalms 80:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah will reign, the peoples will be shaken. He is seated on the cherubs. Psalms 99:1.

In the same author,

Jehovah rode on a cherub, and flew. Psalms 18:10.

And in Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth is dwelling on the cherubs. Isaiah 37:16.

For the same reasons there were cherubs upon the curtains of the dwelling-place, and upon the veil, Exodus 26:1, 31; 36:35; they were also upon the walls of the temple round about and upon the doors there, 1 Kings 6:23-29, 31-35, and similarly in the new temple, as described in Ezekiel 41:18-20. The presence of the cherubs on the curtains of the dwelling-place, on the veil, on the walls of the temple, and on the doors there, was a sign of the Lord's watchfulness, guarding against access to Divine Holiness except through the good of love; and the presence of the cherubs over the ark was a sign that no one should gain access to the Lord Himself except through that good. This also explains why the cherubs were made from solid gold, and in the Jerusalem temple from olive wood; for 'gold' and 'olive oil' mean the good of love.

[6] That watchfulness and providence of the Lord is described in Ezekiel by 'the four living creatures', each of which had four faces, under the throne where the Lord was, Ezekiel 1:1-end; 10:1-end, and also in John by 'four living creatures' around the throne where the Lord was, 10:Revelation 4:6-10; 5:6, 8-9, 14. By 'the four living creatures' is meant the good, varying in appearance, which emanates from the Lord, and which watches and guards against the letting in of anything other than the good of love to the Lord and the good of love towards the neighbour. By 'the throne' on which the Lord was seated heaven is meant, 5313.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.