9557. 'There shall be three almond-shaped cups' means completeness so far as factual knowledge derived from good is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'three' as what is complete, dealt with immediately above in 9556; from the meaning of 'cups' as true factual knowledge derived from the good of charity, dealt with in 5120; and from the meaning of 'almond-shaped' as forms of the good of life that agree with the truths of interior natural good, dealt with in 5622. From these meanings it is evident that 'three almond-shaped cups' means completeness so far as true factual knowledge derived from good is concerned.

'Tables,' as in the tables or tablets of stone that the 10 commandments were written on (in Exodus 32:16), signify the external of the Word, because they are distinct from the writing, which is its internal. The external of the Word is the literal sense, which is like a table or plane, which the internal sense is inscribed on.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 10453)