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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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Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture # 97

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97. It should be known, moreover, that the Word’s literal sense is a protection for the genuine truths that lie concealed within. The literal sense is a protection in that it can be turned this way and that and explained in accord with a person’s comprehension, and yet without the inner meaning’s being harmed or violated. For it does no harm if the Word’s literal sense is interpreted in one way by one person, and in another way by another person. But it does do harm if the Divine truths that lie concealed within are perverted; for this does violence to the Word.

This is guarded against by the literal sense. And it is guarded against among people who, owing to their religion, are caught up in falsities, but do not affirm those falsities, for they do not do any violence.

[2] This protection is symbolized by cherubim in the Word, and described by them, too.

It is symbolized by the cherubim that were placed at the entrance to the garden of Eden after Adam and his wife were cast out, about which we read the following:

(When Jehovah God) drove out the man..., He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword turning hither and thither, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

The cherubim symbolize protection. The way to the tree of life symbolizes an entryway to the Lord, which people have through the Word. The flaming sword turning hither and thither symbolizes Divine truth in outmost expressions, which, like the literal sense of the Word, can be turned in this way.

[3] Protection is likewise meant by the cherubim of gold placed at the two ends of the mercy seat on top of the ark in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-21). Because this is what the cherubim symbolized, therefore the Lord spoke with Moses from between them (Exodus 25:22, 30:6, 33:9, Numbers 7:89). It may be seen in nos. 37-49 above that the Lord speaks with a person only in fullness, and that the Word in its literal sense is Divine truth in its fullness; thus the Lord accordingly spoke with Moses from between cherubim.

Nor is anything else symbolized by the cherubim on the curtains and veil of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:1, 31). For the curtains and veil of the Tabernacle represented the outmost constituents of heaven and the church, and so also those of the Word (see no. 46 above).

Nor is anything else symbolized by the cherubim inside the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:23-28). And by the cherubim carved on the walls and doors of the Temple (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35). Likewise by the cherubim in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20). (See also no. 47 above.)

[4] Since cherubim symbolize a protection to keep the Lord, heaven, and the Divine truth contained in the Word from being approached directly, so that they must be approached indirectly through outmost expressions, therefore we are told regarding the king of Tyre the following:

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering.... You, O cherub, spread out a covering.... I destroyed you, O covering cherub, in the midst of stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

Tyre symbolizes the church with respect to its concepts of truth and goodness, and its king accordingly symbolizes the Word which contains and is the source of those concepts. It is apparent that the Word here is symbolized as it is in its outmost expression, namely its literal sense, and its protection by a cherub; for the text says, “You were the seal of perfection, ” “every precious stone was your covering, ” and “You, O cherub, spread out a covering, ” including as well the phrase, “O covering cherub.” The precious stones listed here also mean truths in the Word’s literal sense, as may be seen in no. 45 above.

Since cherubim symbolize the outmost expression of Divine truth set as a protection, therefore we are told in the Psalms of David,

He bowed the heavens and came down..., and He rode upon a cherub.... (Psalms 18:9-10)

O Shepherd of Israel..., You who sit upon the cherubim, shine forth! (Psalms 80:1)

Jehovah...is seated upon the cherubim. (Psalms 99:1)

To ride upon cherubim, to sit on them and be seated on them, is to do so on the outmost sense of the Word.

[5] Divine truth and its character are described in the Word by cherubim in the first and ninth chapters in Ezekiel, and in the tenth. But because no one can know what the particulars in the description of them symbolize, unless he is someone for whom the spiritual sense has been laid open, therefore I have had disclosed to me what everything said about the cherubim in the first chapter in Ezekiel symbolizes, which in brief is as follows:

Verse 4: The Divine atmosphere surrounding the Word is described.

Verse 5: This represented as having the likeness of a man.

Verse 6: Its conjunction with spiritual and celestial elements.

Verse 7: The nature of the natural component of the Word.

Verses 8-9: The spiritual and celestial components of the Word conjoined with its natural one; their character.

Verses 10-11: The Divine love accompanying the celestial, spiritual and natural goodness and truth present in the Word, separately and together.

Verse 12: They look in one direction.

Verses 13-14: The atmosphere of the Word emanating from the Lord’s Divine goodness and Divine truth, which give the Word life.

Verses 15-21: The doctrine of goodness and truth found in the Word and emanating from the Word.

Verses 22-23: The Divinity of the Lord above the Word and in it.

Verses 24-25: And emanating from it.

Verse 26: The Lord’s being above the heavens.

Verses 27-28: And His possessing Divine love and Divine wisdom.

I have, moreover, compared these summaries with the Word in heaven and found them to be in conformity with it.

  
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Thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.