Arcana Coelestia # 9543
9543. 'And the table shall be carried with them' means being thereby held firmly in being. This is clear from the meaning of 'being carried' as being brought into being and kept in being, dealt with above in 9540, thus also being held firmly in being; and from the meaning of 'the table' as the receptacle of heavenly blessings, dealt with in 9527. All this serves to describe the manner in which the inmost or third heaven receives good from the Lord; for the loaves of the Presence are heavenly good that comes from the Lord, and the table on which the loaves were laid is the receptacle of that good. But I am not allowed to present a detailed description of the nature of this reality, because the majority of the things that exist in the Lord's celestial kingdom lie beyond the range of human thought and almost beyond that of the angelic spirits who live in the lowest heaven. For everything in the Lord's celestial kingdom is founded on the good that belongs to love, and not on the truth that belongs to faith. The fact that those there also communicate with one another through forms of the good of love, and not through the truths of faith as those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom do, see the places referred to in 9277.
[2] The Lord's celestial kingdom is the inmost or third heaven, and within it there exist realities beyond comprehension or description, that is, things which have never entered anyone's mind, and which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, as everyone knows. For this reason those realities existing in that heaven are brought before the eyes of spirits below by means of objects that represent them, and from these representatives they form some idea of the incomprehensible and indescribable realities that exist there. The same realities were represented in the world by the ark, mercy-seat, cherubs, table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, and the lampstand; and these objects serve to present visually all the realities in that kingdom. In like manner the dwelling-place and court of the tent, also the curtains and veils there, served to represent the realities existing in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, which is the second or middle heaven.
Exodus 25
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering.
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This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, brass,
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blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair,
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rams' skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood,
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oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
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onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.
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Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
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According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.
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"They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
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You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold molding around it.
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You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and Two rings on the other side of it.
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You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
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You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.
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The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.
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You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark.
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You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.
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You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.
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Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat.
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The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.
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You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you.
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There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
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"You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height.
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You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.
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You shall make a rim of a handbreadth around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it.
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You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet.
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the rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table.
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You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them.
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You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold.
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You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.
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"You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lampstand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it.
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There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side;
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three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand;
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and in the lampstand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers;
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and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lampstand.
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Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all of it one beaten work of pure gold.
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You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it.
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Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold.
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It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories.
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See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.
