493. That he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne, signifies the conjunction of the heavens with those who are to be separated from the evil and saved. This is evident from the signification of "offering incense with prayers," as being to conjoin the good of the higher heavens by means of truths with those who are in worship from spiritual good (of which presently); also from the signification of "all the saints," as being those who are in good by means of truths, thus who are in spiritual good; that these are called "saints" may be seen above n. 204; again, from the signification of "the golden altar," as being the heaven where there is spiritual good, for the altar upon which incense was offered was called "the golden altar;" again, from the signification of "before the throne," as being conjunction with heaven, "to be before the throne" signifies that conjunction, as may be seen above (n. 462, 477, 489).

[2] That these words signify the conjunction of the heavens with those who are to be separated from the evil and saved, can be seen from the series of things in the internal sense, and from the connection of what goes before with what is now said and with what follows, and also from the signification of the words in the internal sense. For this and the following chapters treat of the last state of the church, or its state when its end has come and the judgment is at hand; but before this state is described, the separation of those who were to be saved is treated of, who are all such as are meant by "those sealed on their foreheads," and by "those clothed in white robes" who were treated of in the preceding chapter. Because these were at that time associated in societies with those who were to be damned, in this chapter the means by which they were separated and saved are described, namely, that the higher heavens were first closely conjoined with the Lord by Divine influx into celestial good, and through that into spiritual good, and afterwards by Divine influx through these goods, conjoined into one, into the lower regions where those who were to be saved and those who were to be damned were together in societies. This influx of the Lord out of the higher heavens was received by those who in the world had lived in good, for that good continued with them, therefore by means of that good they were conjoined to the higher heavens, and thus separated from those who were unable to receive the influx, because they had not lived in good but in evil while they were in the world.

[3] This also is what is meant by the Lord's words in the Gospels:

Then shall two men be in the field, one shall be taken, the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding, one shall be taken, the other shall be left (Matthew 24:40, 41; Luke 17:34-36).

This is the series of things in the internal sense, and the connection of those that precede with what is now said and with what follows (respecting which see more, n. 413, 418, 419, 426, 489). From this it can now be seen what the spiritual sense is of these words, "that he should offer the incense with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne," namely, the conjunction of the higher heavens with those who were to be separated from the evil and saved. The "prayers" with which the incense was to be offered do not mean prayers, but truths from good, by means of which prayers are offered; for truths with man are what pray, and man is continually in such prayers when he lives according to truths. (That "prayers" mean in the Word truths from good which are with man, and not prayers of the mouth, may be seen above, n. 325)

9281. 'And your female slave's son and the sojourner may draw breath' means the state of life of those governed by truths and forms of good outside the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'female slave's son' as those with an affection for external truth, for 'son' means truth, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257, and 'a female slave' means an external affection, 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, 7780, 8993; from the meaning of 'the sojourner' as those who wish to receive instruction in the Church's truths and forms of good, dealt with in 1463, 8007, 8013, 9196, the reason why 'female slave's son and the sojourner' here means those outside the Church being that the preceding words in the present verse have referred to those within the Church, and therefore those outside the Church are meant by 'a female slave's sons' and those not born within the Church by 'sojourners' (the former are such because they are the offspring of an inferior marriage, the latter because they descend from an alien stock); and from the meaning of 'drawing breath' as the state of life in respect of the truths and forms of the good of faith. 'Drawing breath' means that state of life because the lungs, whose function is breathing, correspond to the life of faith springing from charity, which is spiritual life, 97, 1119, 3351, 3635, 3883-3896, 9229.

[2] The human being breathes outwardly and he breathes inwardly; outwardly he draws breath from the world, but inwardly from heaven. When a person dies he ceases to breathe outwardly, but his inward breathing, which is soundless and is undetectable by him while he lives in the world, continues. This breathing is regulated altogether by his affection for truth, thus by the life of his faith. Those without any faith at all, as those in hell are, do not draw breath from an inner source but from an outward one, thus from an opposite direction. Therefore also when they come near an angelic community, which draws breath from an inner source, they start to be suffocated and to become like deathmasks, 3894. As a result of this they hurl themselves headlong back into their hell, where they regain their former manner of breathing that is the opposite of the heavenly manner.

[3] Since breathing corresponds to the life of faith, this life is also meant by anima - a word for soul or breath, 9050 - because of the animation or life-giving power that lies in breathing. Breathing is referred to additionally as spiritus - which also means 'spirit' - in such phrases as 'taking a breath' and 'letting out breath', and therefore also the word for spirits in the original language comes from a word for 'wind', and in the Word they are compared to wind, as in John,

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its voice; but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes away to. So is everyone who is born from the spirit. John 3:8.

From this also it is evident what the meaning is when it says that after the Resurrection, when the Lord spoke to the disciples, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:22.