10701. 'And he put a veil over his face' means that the inward form which the Church, worship, and the Word take was not visible to the Israelite nation, only the outward without the inward. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting a veil over his face' as closing the inward level in order that the outward form alone, without what exists on the inward level, may be seen. For 'the gleaming of the skin of Moses' face' means the shining forth of the inward level of the Word, the Church, and worship within outward things, see above in 10691. But the interest of that nation lay, as it does at the present day, in outward things devoid of what is inward, see in the places referred to above in 10692. From all this it is also evident how the outward form which the Word, the Church, and worship take among that nation appears in heaven; that is to say, not indeed as a human face but as a veil before the face. For obscurity like this exists with them so far as the interior things of the Word are concerned.

10692. 'And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses' means what is discerned by those whose interest lies in things of the Church, worship, and the Word on an outward level devoid of those on the inward level. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as discerning, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400; and from the representation of 'Aaron and the children of Israel', in this and the two previous chapters, as those interested solely in things of the Church, worship, and the Word on an outward level and not in those on an inward one.

For this representation of Aaron, see 10397.

For this representation of the children of Israel, see in the places referred to in 9380, 10396; and in addition what is said in 10430, 10453-10457, 10461-10466, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10526, 10531, 10533, 10535, 10549-10551, 10566, 10570, 10575, 10603, 10629, 10632.