10179. 'A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth' means consisting equally of good and of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'length' as good, and of 'breadth' as truth, dealt with in 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482, 9487. Consisting of the two equally is meant by the fact that the length was a cubit and the breadth a cubit, thus by the fact that they were of equal measure; for in the Word measures are used to specify the amount and essential nature of a reality, and numbers are used in the specification. The reality specified by the measure here - a cubit - is good and truth, the former being meant by 'length' and the latter by 'breadth'. The reason why good is meant by 'length' is that the length is measured from east to west, and good from one boundary to the other is meant by 'east and west', whereas the breadth is measured from south to north, and truth from one boundary to the other is meant by 'south and north'. The same holds true in heaven. There the Lord is the Sun and also the East, the point from which every position there is determined. Those who live before the face of the sun enjoy a perception of good in the measure that they are near or far from it. Those with a clear perception of good are in the east, 3708, 9668, while those with a dim perception of good are in the west, 3708, 9653. Those however who see things in the clear light of truth are in the south, 9642, whereas those who see them in the dim light of truth are in the north, 3708. So it is that such things are meant in the Word by those four quarters, and that good is meant by 'length', and truth by 'breadth'.

7996. 'No son of a foreigner shall eat it' means that those not in possession of truth and good are set apart from them. This is clear from the meaning of 'a foreigner' as those who are outside the Church and unreceptive of anything of the truth or good of faith, as the nations in the land of Canaan were, dealt with in 2049, 2115, thus those who are not in possession of truth and good; and from the meaning of 'not eating it' as not having any contact with them or being joined to them, thus being set apart from them. The verses immediately following deal with those who shall eat the Passover together and those who shall not eat it. The Passover was a supper, representing the groups of good people living in association with one another in heaven. The statutes in the verses that follow indicate who exactly could be included and who could not. In general the banquets within the Church in ancient times, both midday meals and suppers, were held in order that people might be brought into association with one another and joined together in love, and in order that they might inform one another about matters of love and faith, and so about the things of heaven, see 3596, 3832, 5161. Such were the delights surrounding feasts in those times, and they were the end in view in holding midday meals and suppers. People's minds were thereby nourished, and also their bodies in a parallel and corresponding way. As a result they enjoyed good health and long life, they received intelligence and wisdom, and they were also brought into communication with heaven, some into open communication with angels. But as in course of time all internal things disappear and give way to external ones, so it is with the ends to which banquets and feasts are held. At the present day these are held not to draw people together into any spiritual fellowship but to create worldly connections. That is to say, they are held for the sake of material gain, the quest for high office, and mere pleasures. They provide nourishment for the body, but none for the mind.