10365. 'That soul will be cut off from the midst of his people' means that not heaven and the Church but hell resides with that person. This is clear from the meaning of 'being cut off from the midst of his people' as separation from the Church and spiritual death, dealt with in 10288, so that not the Church but hell resides with him. When the Church does not reside with a person, neither does heaven; for heaven and the Church act as one. In the case of a person in whom the Church is present heaven, that is, the Lord by way of heaven, flows in and constitutes the Church there. So it is that when the Church does not reside with a person hell does so; and this is therefore meant by 'being cut off from the midst of his people'.

Food and drink in the Bible represent the desire to be loving and the understanding of how to be loving, gifts that flow from the Lord and sustain life. Since a table is where we receive these gifts and make them a part of us, it follows that tables in the Bible represent receptacles of good things from the Lord, the places He can fill in our hearts and minds. In the contrary sense, tables can also represent receptacle of evil from hell; we can allow ourselves to be filled with those as well.