709. The name Jehovah is used because now the subject is charity. From verse 9 to the end of the previous chapter Jehovah is not used but God, the reason being that there the subject is the preparation of Noah, or the member of the Church called Noah, as regards things of his understanding, which are matters of faith. Here however it is the preparation of him as regards the things of his will, which are matters of love. When the subject is the things of the understanding, that is, the truths of faith, the name God is used, but when it is those of the will, that is, goods stemming from love, Jehovah is used. For it is not things of the understanding, that is, of faith, that constitute the Church but those of the will which are matters of love. Jehovah is present within love and charity, but not within faith except faith that inheres in love or charity. This also is why in the Word faith is compared to the night, but love to the daytime, as in Genesis 1 where the great lights are mentioned; the greater light, which is the sun and means love, has dominion over the day, while the lesser light, which is the moon and means faith, has dominion over the night, Genesis 1:14, 16. Similarly in the Prophets, Jeremiah 31:35; 33:20; Psalms 136:8-9; also Revelation 8:12.

10233. Verses 17-21 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, And you shall make a laver of bronze, and its pedestal from bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. And Aaron and his sons shall wash in it ¹ their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting they shall wash with water, that they may not die, or when they approach the altar to minister, to burn a fire offering to Jehovah. And they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they may not die; and it shall be the statute of an age ² to them - for him and his seed [throughout] their generations.

'And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying' means perception as a result of enlightenment from the Lord through the Word. 'And you shall make a laver of bronze' means the good within the natural degree in a person, in which purification takes place. 'And its pedestal from bronze' means good on the last level of the natural, which is that of the senses. 'For washing' means purification from evils and falsities. 'And you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar' means in order that truth and good may be joined together. 'And put water in it' means the truths of faith by means of which purification in the natural is accomplished. 'And Aaron and his sons shall wash in it' means a representative sign of the purification and regeneration of a person by the Lord. 'Their hands and their feet' means the person's interiors and exteriors. 'When they go into the tent of meeting' means worship springing from the good of faith. 'They shall wash with water' means purification effected by means of the truths of faith. 'That they may not die' means so that what is representative may not be lost. 'Or when they approach the altar to minister, to burn a fire offering to Jehovah' means worship springing from the good of love. 'And they shall wash their hands and their feet' means purification of the person's interiors and exteriors. 'That they may not die' means so that what is representative may not be lost. 'And it shall be the statute of an age to them' means an eternal law of order. 'For him and his seed [throughout] their generations' means all who receive the things which emanate from the Lord, thus who are being regenerated by Him.

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