10767. Exodus 37

1. And Bezalel made the ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.

2. And he overlaid it with pure gold on the inside and on the outside, and made for it a rim of gold round about.

3. And he cast four rings of gold for it on its four corners; and two rings were on one rib ¹ of it and two rings on the other rib ¹ of it.

4. And he made poles from shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

5. And he put the poles into the rings on the ribs ² of the ark, to carry the ark.

6. And he made the mercy-seat from pure gold; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

7. And he made the two cherubs from gold; solid he made them ³ at the two ends of the mercy-seat.

8. One cherub was at the end on one side, and one cherub was at the end on the other side; of one piece with the mercy-seat he made the cherubs ⁴ at its two ends.

9. And the cherubs were spreading out their wings upwards, providing protection over the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces of a man towards his brother ⁵ ; the faces of the cherubs were towards the mercy-seat.

10. And he made the table from shittim wood; two cubits was its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.

11. And he overlaid it with pure gold; and he made for it a rim of gold round about.

12. And he made for it a rail of a hand's breadth round about; and he made a rim of gold for its rail round about.

13. And he cast for it four rings of gold, and he put the rings on the four corners which were on its four feet.

14. The rings were close to the rail, as receptacles for the poles to carry the table.

15. And he made the poles from shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table.

16. And he made the vessels which went on the table - its dishes, and its cups, and its small dishes, and its small brushes, with which it was to be covered - from pure gold.

17. And he made the lampstand from pure gold; solid made he the lampstand ⁶ . Its leg ⁷ and its branch, its cups, its pomegranates, and its flowers were of one piece with it ⁸ .

18. And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it.

19. There were three almond-shaped cups on one branch, a pomegranate and a flower, and three almond-shaped cups going out of one branch ⁹ , a pomegranate and a flower - thus for the six branches going out of the lampstand.

20. And on [the leg ⁷ of] the lampstand there were four almond-shaped cups, its pomegranates and its flowers.

21. And there was a pomegranate under [the first] two branches out of it, and a pomegranate under [the second] two branches out of it, and a pomegranate under [the third] two branches out of it - for the six branches going out of it.

22. Their pomegranates and their branches were of one piece with it ⁸ ; the whole of it was one solid [piece made] from pure gold.

23. And he made its seven lamps, and its tongs and its trowels ¹⁰ , from pure gold.

24. With a talent of pure gold he made it, and all its vessels.

25. And he made the altar of incense from shittim wood. A cubit was its length, and a cubit its breadth; it was square. And two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it ⁸ .

26. And he overlaid it with pure gold, its roof ¹¹ , and its walls ¹² round about, and its horns; and he made for it a rim of gold round about.

27. And two rings of gold he made for it under its rim on its two ribs, on its two sides, to serve as receptacles for the poles, to carry it on them.

28. And he made the poles from shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

29. And he made the holy anointing oil ¹³ , and the pure incense of spices with the work of a perfumer.

CONTENTS

Since the subject in this chapter is the ark, the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and the description of them here is similar to that which has appeared before in Chapter Exodus 25 [and Chapter Exodus 30], where an explanation of the internal sense of every detail was given, these things are passed over here without any further explanation.

Poznámky pod čarou:

10189. 'On its two ribs' means with truths lying in one direction, that is to say, a joining together with them and preservation by means of them. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ribs', when used to mean the sides, as truths; for the sides that are called 'the ribs' face the south and the north, and 'the south' means truth dwelling in light, 9642, while 'the north' means truth dwelling in shade, 3708. But by 'the sides' which are properly the sides good is meant since these face the east and the west, and 'the east' means good set in clearness and 'the west' good set in obscurity, 3708, 9653. Therefore it says here,

Two rings of gold you shall make for it under the rim; on its two ribs you shall make them, on its two sides.

The fact that the sides which are properly the sides face the east and the west, whereas the sides which are called 'the ribs' face the south and the north is evident in Exodus 26:13, 26-27, 35 ¹ . Furthermore since the ribs serve to reinforce the chest truths giving support to good are meant by them.

[2] In heaven however the layout is such that to the right there are those who dwell in the light of truth, thus who are in the south, but to the left those who dwell in the shade of truth, thus who are in the north. Before one's face there are those whose perception of good is clear, thus who are in the east, but behind one's back there are those whose perception of good is dim, thus who are in the west. These angels dwelling in the regions of good constitute the Lord's celestial kingdom, but the others dwelling in the regions of truth constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom. This is how the angels there, whichever way they turn, see everything to be laid out; for angels have the Lord, who is the East, unceasingly in front of their face. But the contrary is so with those in hell, for they have the Lord unceasingly behind their back.

[3] In the next life the four quarters are not determined, as they are in the world, by where fixed regions lie, but by ruling loves that remain fixed.

[4] For his love makes an angel or a spirit what he is, and where that love is, in that direction he turns. Those in whom love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour reign, and therefore in whom faith is present, behold the Lord in front of themselves whichever way they turn their face and body. For the Lord turns them towards Himself; He enters them by the way from the east and keeps them fixed unceasingly on Himself. As a consequence - since their outward sight is under the control of the inward sight belonging to their understanding, and this inward sight is under the control of the love belonging to their will - their outward sight looks in the direction in which that love bears it. It is similar with people in the world so far as their interiors, which constitute their spirit, are concerned. Also, all in the next life are identified, every one, by the direction in which they turn.

As regards things of a spatial nature and locations in the next life, that they are of the same nature as those described above, and that they therefore mean states, see 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381, 9440, 9967, 10146.

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