Det första altaret som nämns i Ordet byggdes av Noah efter att han kom ut ur arken. På det altaret offrade han rena djur till Herren. Berg representerar Herren eftersom de är höga, och vi måste lyfta våra tankar över världsliga saker när vi "pratar" med Herren. Ett altare är ett litet konstgjort berg, men när det används i tillbedjan kan man tänka på denna tankeupphöjning, och elden och röken sänds upp som symboliskt skickas till Herren. De flesta altare gjordes av ogjorda stenar. Stenar representerar sanningar och stenar som inte har formats av män representerar sanningar från Ordet, sanningar som inte har förfalskats. De rena djuren representerar bra saker, välgörenhetsåtgärder som görs för att de har rätt, och de rena fåglarna representerar tankar om doktrin och handlingar och om vad som är rätt. Så att presentera dessa saker är ett erkännande av att vi har dem från Herren och tackar honom för dem.

I det israelitiska tabernaklet representerade brännofferet altaret erkännandet av det goda och rökelsens altare som sanningen. Av detta skäl var detta större altare, som var utanför dörren, tillverkat av mässing som betyder naturligt gott, och rökelsealteret gjordes av guld som betyder kärlek till Herren från vilken kommer sanningen.

(Odkazy: Himmelska Hemligheter 921, 1298, Arcana Coelestia 1298 [2], [3], 10177)

1888. To illustrate that the sense of the letter of the Word is representative of Divine arcana and is the receptacle of, and thus the storehouse containing, celestial and spiritual things which are the Lord's, let two examples be taken, which will consequently reveal the position with all else The first example shows that David is not used to mean David but the Lord, the second that names mean nothing other than real things. Of David the following is said in Ezekiel,

My servant David will be King over them, and they will all have one Shepherd. They will dwell in the land, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons even for ever. And David my servant will be their Prince for ever. Ezekiel 37:24-25.

And in Hosea,

The children of Israel will return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king. Hosea 3:5.

These promises were written by prophets who lived later than David, yet it is explicitly stated by them that he 'will be' their king and prince. From this it may become clear to anyone that in the internal sense David means the Lord. The same applies in all other places, including the historical descriptions, where David is referred to by name.

[2] As regards the names of kingdoms, regions, cities, and men meaning real things, this becomes quite clear in the Prophets. Take this single example in Isaiah,

Thus said the Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur; he will smite you with a rod, and he will lift up the staff over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah Zebaoth will lift up the scourge over him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Horeb, and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up in the way of Egypt. He will come against Aiath; he will pass over into Migron; he will command his arms towards Michmash. They will cross the Mabarah. Geba will be a lodging-place for us. Hormah ¹ will tremble. Gibeah of Saul will flee. Make a noise with your voice, O daughter of Gallim. Hearken, O Laish. Wail, O Anathoth. Madmenah will wander about. The inhabitants of Gebim will gather themselves together. This very day he is in Nob to stay. The mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, will shake her fist. He will cut down the entangled boughs of the wood with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by a majestic one. Isaiah 10:24, 26-34.

[3] These verses include little more than mere names, which would not make any sense at all if, without exception, those names did not mean real things; and if the mind remained fixed on those names, no acknowledgement that it was the Word of the Lord would ever be made. But who is going to believe that all those names in the internal sense contain arcana of heaven? Or that through them the state of people is described who endeavour by means of reasonings based on facts to penetrate the mysteries of faith? Or that by means of each name some particular aspect of that state is described? Or that those reasonings are dispersed by the Lord by means of the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith? That 'Asshur' means reasoning, which is the subject in these verses from Isaiah, becomes quite clear from what has been shown regarding 'Asshur' in 119, 1186; and that 'Egypt' means factual knowledge, from what has been shown in 1164, 1165, 1462. See these paragraphs and consider whether or not this is true. It is the same with all other names, and with individual expressions.

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