10178. 'With pieces of shittim wood you shall make it' means from love that is Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit and of righteousness, which is the Lord's alone, dealt with in 9472, 9486, 9715. The reason why love as well is meant is that when the Lord was in the world He was motivated by Divine Love to fight against all the hells and overcome them, and in so doing to save the human race, as a result of which He alone has earned merit, and has become righteousness, see 9486, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152; and the good of merit which is the Lord's is therefore His Divine Love. The reason why 'shittim wood' has so profound a meaning is that all things which exist in earth's three kingdoms - the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms - serve to mean spiritual and celestial realities, or else their opposites. (For the whole natural order is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom, see the places referred to in 9280.) And 'wood' means in general the good of love, and in particular the good of merit, 2784, 2812, 3720, 4943, 8354, 8740. So it is that in the highest sense 'wood' means Divine Good; for all things serving in the internal sense to mean aspects of the Church and of heaven serve in the highest sense to mean Divine realities.

2859. 'And Abraham dwelt in Beersheba' means that the Lord is that doctrine itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling', from the representation of 'Abraham', and from the meaning of 'Beersheba', all of which have been dealt with already, and is at the same time clear from what has gone immediately before. 'Dwelling in Beersheba' means abiding in doctrine, but when used in reference to the Lord the expression means His being such doctrine, even as 'dwelling in heaven', which also is said of the Lord, means not only that He is in heaven but also that He is heaven, for He is the All of heaven, 551, 552. It is well known that the Lord is the Word; so He is doctrine also, 2533, for all doctrine is drawn from the Word. The whole of the doctrine within the Word is received from the Lord and has to do with the Lord. In the internal sense of the Word nothing else than the Lord and His kingdom are the subject, as shown many times. It is the Lord's Divine Human that is the subject primarily of the internal sense of the Word. The whole of the doctrine within the Word, where man is concerned, has to do with worshipping Him and loving Him.