The first altar mentioned in the Word was the one built by Noah after he came out of the ark, after being saved from the great flood. On that altar, he sacrificed clean animals to the Lord.

Mountains represent the Lord because of their height; we need to raise our thoughts above worldly things when "talking" with the Lord. An altar is a small artificial mountain. When it's used in worship, it can call to mind this raising of thought. The fire and smoke that rise from an altar are symbolically being sent to the Lord.

Most altars were made from unhewn stones. Stones represent truths. Unhewn stones - ones that have not been shaped by men - represent truths from the Word, truths that have not been adulterated.

The clean beasts to be sacrificed represent good things, charitable acts done because they are right. The clean birds represent thoughts about doctrine and actions, and about what is right. Presenting these things is an acknowledgment that we have them from the Lord, and a giving thanks to Him for them.

In the Israelitish Tabernacle, the altar of burnt offering represented the acknowledgment of good and the altar of incense that of truth. For this reason this larger altar, which was outside by the door, was made of brass which signifies natural good, while the altar of incense was made of gold, which signifies love to the Lord from whom comes truth.

10730. 'And the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a sabbath of rest to Jehovah' means the second state in the regeneration of a person, when that person is joined to the Lord, and in the highest sense means the union of the Lord's Human with the Divine itself. This is clear from the representation of 'the sabbath' as the second state in the regeneration of a person, when a person is governed by good and for that reason is led by the Lord, dealt with in 8510, 8890, 8893, 9274, and in the highest sense as the union of the Human with the Divine itself within the Lord, dealt with in 8495, 10356, 10367, 10374. When the Lord was in the world He first made His Human Divine Truth, but when He left the world He made His Human Divine Good through union with the Divine itself which was within Him. This is represented by 'the sabbath' in the highest sense, hence the use of the words 'a sabbath of rest to Jehovah'. The Lord does things in a similar way for a person whom He is regenerating. First He endows the person with truths, after which He uses the truths to join him to good, thus to Himself. This is what 'the sabbath' represents in the relative sense; for the regeneration of a person is an image of the glorification of the Lord, that is, as the Lord glorified His Human, so He regenerates a person.

[2] Strictly speaking, 'the sabbath' means rest and peace, because when the Lord united His Human to the Divine itself He had peace. For now conflicts had come to an end and all things in the heavens and in the hells had been restored to order, so that not only did He Himself have peace but also angels in heaven and people on earth dwelt in peace and safety.

[3] Since these two processes are the all-embracing realities on which everything else in the Church is dependent, only the sanctifying of the sabbath, which serves to mean those two realities, is declared here ¹ . For the most all-embracing reality is that the Lord has united His Human to the Divine itself, as a result of which a person can dwell in peace and safety. And it is also an all-embracing reality that a person should be joined to the Lord, which is effected through regeneration bringing him that peace and safety. This also was why the sabbath among the Israelite nation was the chief representative and was the chief sign of the covenant with Jehovah, that is, of being joined to the Lord, see 10357, 10372, a covenant being a joining together.

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