8330. 'The sanctuary, O Lord, [which] Your hands have prepared' means the heaven where those guided by the truth of faith coming from the Lord are. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sanctuary' as the heaven where the truth of faith resides, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Your hands have prepared' as that which comes from the Lord. The reason why the words 'hands have prepared' are used in connection with 'the sanctuary' is that 'hands' have reference to truth and mean power. For 'hands' and their reference to truth, see 3091, 8281; for their meaning as power, 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 6292, 6947, 7011, 7188, 7189, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8069, 8153, 8281; and for 'the sanctuary', that this in a similar way has reference to truth, 8302. But the words which come immediately before - 'a place for You to dwell in' and 'You have made, O Jehovah' - have reference to good because they apply to 'mountain of inheritance', which means the heaven in which the good of charity resides, 8327. There are expressions which when used in the Word have reference to good, and there are expressions which have reference to truth, see 8314.

[2] What is implied by the heaven in which the good of charity resides, meant by 'mountain of inheritance', and what is implied by the heaven in which the truth of faith resides, meant by 'the sanctuary', must be stated briefly. The heaven in which the good of charity resides is that which is inhabited by the more internal members of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the heaven in which the truth of faith resides is that which is inhabited by the more external members of that kingdom. The internal members are those in whom charity itself resides and faith rooted in charity, whereas the external members are those in whom faith resides but not as yet charity. The latter are moved to do good by a sense of obedience, but the former by affection. These few details show what one should understand by the heaven in which the good of charity resides and the heaven in which the truth of faith resides.

[3] As regards 'the sanctuary', in the highest sense it means the truth of faith which comes from the Lord. From this it means in the representative sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, also the spiritual Church, and therefore a regenerated person who is an embodiment of the Church, and so means in the sense abstracted from these the truth of faith, thus faith itself. For what 'sanctified' or 'holy' means, see above in 8302. So it is then that the truth of faith which comes from the Lord is what causes heaven to be called 'the sanctuary', as in David,

May Jehovah answer you in the day of trouble. May He send you help from the sanctuary, and sustain you out of Zion. Psalms 20:1-2.

Here 'the sanctuary' stands for the heaven where the truth of faith resides, 'Zion' for the heaven where the good of love resides.

[4] In the same author,

They have seen Your goings, O God, the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. You are frightening, O God - out of [Your] sanctuaries, O God of Israel. Psalms 68:24, 35

'The sanctuary' stands for the heaven where the truth of faith resides. This is why the name 'God', not 'Jehovah', is used, and also 'King'; for 'God' is used where truth is referred to, but 'Jehovah' where good is referred to, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4402, 7010, 7268, and 'king' means truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[5] In the same author,

It will praise Jah, for He looked out from the height of His sanctuary. Jehovah looked from the heavens towards the earth to hear the groaning of him who was bound, to open to the sons of death. Psalms 102:18-20.

Here also 'the sanctuary' stands for heaven in respect of the truth of faith. In the same author,

Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the expanse of His strength. Psalms 150:1.

'Praising in the sanctuary' stands for doing so from the truth of faith which comes from the Lord, 'praising in the expanse of strength' from the good of charity which comes from the Lord.

2586. 'For Jehovah had completely closed every womb of Abimelech's house' means sterility, that is to say, of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'completely closing the womb' as preventing conception itself, and from the meaning of 'Abimelech's house' as the good that belongs to the doctrine of faith, from which it is evident that sterility is meant. The reason why in this chapter the name 'God' is used up to this point, and 'Jehovah' for the first time now, is that 'God' is used when truth is the subject but 'Jehovah' when good is the subject. Doctrine is conceived wholly from good as the father, but birth is given to it through truth as the mother, as stated several times already. Here it is the conception of it that is dealt with, and because it is conceived from good the name 'Jehovah' is used; but above it is the birth of it that is dealt with, and because it is given birth through truth the name 'God' is used, as in the previous verse, 'God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his women servants, and they gave birth'.

[2] Similarly in other places in the Word where conception is referred to, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah has called me from the womb. Jehovah who formed me from the womb has said.... I will at that time be precious to Jehovah, and my God will be my strength. Isaiah 49:1, 5.

'Strength' has reference to truth and therefore 'God' is used. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, your Maker, and He who formed you from the womb. Isaiah 44:2, 24.

And elsewhere. For the same reason also the phrase 'Abimelech's house' is used, which means the good that belongs to the doctrine of faith. As regards 'a house' meaning good, see 2048, 2233, and 'Abimelech' the doctrine of faith, 2509, 2510. The statements that 'they gave birth' and 'the wombs of Abimelech's house were closed on account of Sarah', it is evident, hold a Divine arcanum within them, but this arcanum cannot possibly be disclosed except by means of the internal sense.