8940. 'And if you make for Me an altar of stones' means a representative kind of worship in general that is composed of truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as a representative of Divine worship in general, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489; and from the meaning of 'stones' as truths, dealt with in 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798, 6426, 8609. There is worship of the Lord that springs from good, and there is worship of Him that springs from truth. Worship of the Lord springing from good was represented by an altar of soil, and worship springing from truth by an altar of stone. Regarding the first and the second kinds of worship, see above in 8935. It was because an altar of stone was a sign of worship springing from truth that they were commanded to set up such an altar as soon as they crossed the Jordan and came into the land of Canaan, and to write on it the Commandments contained in the Law, that is, God's truths from heaven. For by the Ten Commandments are meant all God's truths in summary form. That altar is spoken of in Moses as follows,

When you cross the Jordan you shall set up for yourself large stones, and coat them with lime. Then you shall write on them all the words of the Law. Afterwards, you shall build there an altar to Jehovah your God, an altar of stones, which you shall not hew with any iron tool. ¹ With whole stones you shall build the altar of Jehovah your God, and present ² on it burnt offerings and eucharistic offerings. And you shall write on the stones of the altar the words of the Law, expressing them very plainly. Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Joshua 8:30-32.

[2] The reason why they were to write the words of the Law on stones of the altar was that truths were meant by 'stones', and worship that springs from truths by 'an altar of stones'. This was also the reason why the Ten Commandments, which were a sign of Divine Truths in their entirety, were inscribed on tablets of stone. The reason why it had to be done as soon as they crossed the Jordan was that the Jordan, which was the first and outermost boundary of the land of Canaan on the side where the wilderness lay, meant introduction into the Church or heaven, which is accomplished through cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, thus through truths from the Word, 4255. For all the rivers serving as boundaries of that land meant the first and outermost reaches of the Lord's kingdom, 4116, 4240. By 'the stones of the altar' the truths of faith are also meant in Isaiah,

He will remove sin when He makes all the stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about. Isaiah 27:9

This refers to the ruination of the Church. 'The stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about' stands for the truths of faith that inspire worship after something similar has happened to them. As regards altars in general, they were made out of soil, stones, bronze, wood, and also gold - out of bronze, wood, and gold because these materials served to mean good. For an altar of bronze, see Ezekiel 9:2; for an altar of wood, Ezekiel 41:22; and for an altar of gold, which was the altar of incense, 1 Kings 6:22; 7:48; Revelation 8:3. That 'bronze' means good, see 425, 1551; that 'wood' does so, 643, 2784, 2812, 3720, 8354; and that 'gold' does so as well, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658.

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8603. 'And Moses, Aaron, and Hur' means levels of Divine Truth that follow one another in order. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as Divine Truth that goes forth directly from the Lord, dealt with in 7010; from the representation of 'Aaron' as Divine Truth that goes forth from the Lord in an indirect way, dealt with in 7009; and from the representation of 'Hur' as Divine Truth that goes forth again in an indirect way, but through the latter. Thus there are levels of truth that follow one another in order.

[2] What is meant by levels of truth that follow one another in order must be stated briefly. All things without exception in the entire natural world spring in order from others on a more internal level; they derive from them and follow in order after them. But the interior things do not connect with the exterior by gradually merging into them; rather, they are distinct and separate, and are joined through extensions from themselves like fibres, which act as channels of communication. Some idea of the nature of things which derive from others and therefore follow in order from them may be conveyed by considering fruits such as lemons, apples, and the like. Their most external parts are their surrounding skins, their interiors are the surrounded flesh or pulp, and their yet more interior parts are the seeds; and the seeds have casings around the outside, then on the actual seeds membranes, under which lies an inner pulp containing the initial form, the soul so to speak, from which again spring new trees and fruit.

[3] All these things follow one another in order; but they are distinct and separate, yet at the same time are joined together. The communication of interiors with exteriors is effected in a wondrous fashion through fibre-like passageways. When those interiors and exteriors are first formed they are very closely connected; but in the course of time they are separated. For before the initial form, the inmost part within the seed, can expand into forms like its parents it must be opened in stages following one another in order. When it is opened and starts to grow, the pulpy parts surrounding it adapt themselves, serving first as its 'soil', and after that as its fertilizing sap. After this phase, which is its time in the womb, it is born; at that point it is left to the soil of the earth, in which it is sown as a seed.

[4] All this enables one to form some idea of the nature of things that derive from and follow one another in order. As is the nature of them in the vegetable kingdom, so it is also in the animal kingdom, yet in a far more perfect way. In the animal kingdom there are exterior things, interior, and inmost, which in like manner follow one another in order, are distinct and separate from one another, and yet at the same time are joined together. But they are different in that forms in the animal kingdom have been created to receive life. Consequently just as forms receiving life follow one another in order, so do the resulting kinds of vitality. For the forms or substances receiving life are the subjects ¹ , and the things which result from changes and modifications of those forms are the forces, which should be called vitalities because they are life-forces. From all this one may now see what is meant by levels of Divine Truth that follow one another in order. For everything constituting life has connection with truth, and the perfection it possesses with good, or in the contrary sense with falsity, and its imperfection with evil. Their transitions in order from one to the next are also called degrees.

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