Arcana Coelestia # 3272
3272. Twelve princes of their peoples. That this signifies all the primary things of this spiritual church, is evident from the signification of “twelve,” as being all things of faith or of the church (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130); from the signification of “princes,” as being things primary (n. 1482, 2089); and from the signification of “peoples,” as being those who are in truths (n. 1259, 1260), thus those who are of the spiritual church, for these are said to be in truths.
That all numbers in the Word signify actual things, may be clearly seen from the number “twelve,” which so often occurs. This number, wherever it occurs in the Word, signifies all; as for instance the “twelve tribes” in the Old Testament, and the “twelve apostles” in the New, signify all things of faith, and thus all things of the church. So here “twelve princes” signify all the primary things of this church, and these are represented by so many sons of Ishmael.
[2] That “twelve” has this signification may be seen from the passages adduced in the sections above cited, as also from the following passages in the Word.
In John:
I heard the number of those who were sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand (Revelation 7:4-5); and so on; where by “twelve thousand sealed out of every tribe” nothing else is signified than that all who are in faith, that is, who are in the good of faith, are saved. Again:
A woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (Revelation 12:1).
The “woman” denotes the church (n. 252, 253); the “sun,” celestial love; and the “moon,” spiritual love (n. 30-38, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495); the “twelve stars” denote all things of faith. (That “stars” are the knowledges of good and truth which are of faith, may be seen above, n. 2495, 2849)
[3] Again:
The holy city, New Jerusalem, had twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits (twelve times twelve), which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls (Revelation 21:2, 12, 14, 16-17, 21);
here by the “holy city” nothing else is signified than the Lord’s spiritual kingdom; and by “gates,” “wall,” “foundations” are signified the things of charity and faith; and by “twelve,” so often mentioned, are signified all of these things; that neither twelve tribes nor twelve apostles are signified, must be evident to everyone. Again:
In the midst of the street of it, and on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month (Revelation 22:2).
The “twelve fruits” are all things of charity.
[4] In Matthew:
Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed Me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28);
here apostles are not meant by “apostles,” nor thrones by “thrones,” nor tribes by “tribes,” but all things that are of faith (n. 2129). Moreover in the Word of the Old Testament, where “twelve tribes” are mentioned, it is all things of the church that are signified; and the case is the same with the “twelve stones according to the names of the twelve tribes of Israel” in the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:21); and with the “twelve loaves” of the show bread set in order upon the table (Leviticus 24:5-6); and so in other instances. That all things of faith are contained also in the very names of the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel, will be seen, of the Lord’s Divine mercy in what follows in chapters 29 and 30.
Exodus 29
1
"This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest's office: take one young bull and two rams without blemish,
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unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour.
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You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.
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You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall wash them with water.
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You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clothe him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod;
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and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban.
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Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.
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You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them.
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You shall clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
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"You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull.
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You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
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You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.
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You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.
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But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin offering.
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"You shall also take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
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You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar.
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You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head.
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You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
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"You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
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Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar.
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You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.
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Also you shall take some of the ram's fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration),
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and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh.
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You shall put all of this in Aaron's hands, and in his sons' hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh.
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You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
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"You shall take the breast of Aaron's ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion.
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You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:
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and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering: and it shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.
29
"The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them.
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Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.
31
"You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place.
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Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
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They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy.
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If anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
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"You shall do so to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them seven days.
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Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it.
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Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
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"Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually.
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The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening:
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and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.
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The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning, and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
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It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you.
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There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory.
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I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to minister to me in the priest's office.
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I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
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They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.
