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Exodus 25

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1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver and brass,

4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair.

5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood.

6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breast-plate.

8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its instruments, even so shall ye make it.

10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its hight.

11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold around it.

12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

13 And thou shalt make staffs of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

14 And thou shalt put the staffs into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

15 The staffs shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

17 And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

18 And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat.

19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on its two ends.

20 And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; towards the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

21 And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment to the children of Israel.

23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: its length shall be two cubits, and its breadth a cubit, and its hight a cubit and a half.

24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make to it a crown of gold around it.

25 And thou shalt make to it a border of an hand-breadth around it, and thou shalt make a golden crown to its border around it.

26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet.

27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staffs to bear the table.

28 And thou shalt make the staffs of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

29 And thou shalt make its dishes, and its spoons, and its covers, and its bowls, to cover it with: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

30 And thou shalt set upon the table show-bread before me always.

31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: its shaft, and its branches, its bowls, its knobs, and its flowers, shall be of the same.

32 And six branches shall extend from the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick from the one side, and three branches of the candlestick from the other side:

33 Three bowls made like to almonds, with a knob and a flower in one branch; and Three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knob and a flower: so in the six branches that project from the candlestick.

34 And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like to almonds, with their knobs and their flowers.

35 And there shall be a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that project from the candlestick.

36 Their knobs and their branches shall be of the same: all of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

37 And thou shalt make its seven lamps: and they shall light its lamps, that they may give light over against it.

38 And its tongs, and its snuff-dishes, shall be of pure gold.

39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee on the mount.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 9643

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9643. 'And forty bases of silver' means complete support received through truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'forty' as completeness, dealt with in 9437; from the meaning of 'bases' as support, since bases serve as supports; and from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999. The bases were made from silver and the boards overlaid with gold because good is meant by 'the boards', 9634, and truth by 'the bases', and good possesses power and on this account lends support through truth. As regards good, that it possesses power through truth, see 6344, 6423, 9327, 9410, and that 'gold' means good and 'silver' truth, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510. Good possesses power through truth because truth gives shape to good, which means that good also possesses specific quality; for outward shape exists where specific quality does so. The good can then be a real influence among things, in one way or another. So it is that the ability resides potentially in good, but that this cannot be exercised except through truth. Ability so exercised is actual power, consequently power that provides support.

[2] Bases also correspond to a person's feet and soles of the feet; in general they correspond to the bones, which lend support to all the fleshy parts in the body. By the feet and likewise the bones truth that provides support is meant, and by the fleshy parts in the body good which supports itself by means of truth.

All things on the natural level resemble the human form, and carry the same meaning as the parts of it they resemble, see 9496.

'Flesh' means good, 3813, 6968, 7850, 9127.

'Feet' means the natural, thus truth that has power from good within it, 5327, 5328.

'Body' means good, 6135.

'Bones' means truth that provides support, 3812 (end), 8005.

[3] So it is also that by 'foundations', which are a general base, the truth of faith and faith itself are meant, as becomes clear from places in the Word where 'foundations' are mentioned, for example in Isaiah,

Do you not know, do you not hear, do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

A person unacquainted with what 'the foundations' and what 'the earth' mean inevitably takes 'the foundations of the earth' here to denote the inner depths of the planet, even though he may realize, if he stops to think about it, that something other than them is meant; for what meaning can knowing, hearing, and understanding the foundations of the earth have? From this it becomes clear that by 'the foundations of the earth' such things as have to do with the Church are meant. The fact that 'the earth' in the Word means the Church is plainly evident from places in the Word where 'the earth' is mentioned, see those quoted in 9325. And the fact that its foundations are the truths of faith, for these truths serve the Church as foundations, becomes clearer still from the following places: In David,

They do not acknowledge, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are unstable. Psalms 82:5.

It is not the foundations of the earth that are unstable but, as is self-evident, it is the truths of the Church with those who neither acknowledge nor understand them and walk in darkness. In the same author,

The earth quaked and trembled, and the foundations of the mountains shook and quaked. Psalms 18:7.

'The mountains' are forms of the good of love, 795, 4210, 6435, 8327, their 'foundations' are the truths of faith. In Isaiah,

The floodgates from on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken. Isaiah 24:18.

Since 'the foundations' means the truth of faith, and 'city' doctrine based on it, therefore also the Word speaks of 'the foundations of the city' when the truth of doctrine is meant. For the meaning of 'city' as doctrinal teachings based on truth, see 402, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493.

[4] This goes to show what the meaning is of 'the foundations of the city, the holy Jerusalem' in John,

The wall of the city, the holy Jerusalem, had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. Revelation 21:14, 19-20.

A person unacquainted with what 'the holy Jerusalem', 'the city', 'the wall', 'the foundations', and 'the twelve apostles' mean cannot see any arcanum at all that lies within this description. Nevertheless 'the holy Jerusalem' means the Lord's New Church which will take the place of the one that is ours at the present day; 1 'the city' doctrinal teachings; 'the wall' the truth protecting and defending, and 'its foundations' the truths of faith; and 'the twelve apostles' all forms of the good of love and the truths of faith in their entirety. From this it becomes clear why it says that there will be twelve foundations, adorned with every kind of precious stone; for 'precious stone' means the truth of faith springing from the good of love, 114, 3858, 6640, 9476, and 'the twelve apostles' all aspects of love and faith in their entirety, 3488, 3858 (end), 6397.

[5] From all this it is evident what is meant by 'the foundations' in those verses in John and also by 'the foundations' in Isaiah,

Behold, I am arranging your stones with antimony, and will lay your foundations in sapphires. Isaiah 54:11.

'Sapphires' are interior truths, 9407. In the same prophet,

Jehovah will strike Asshur with a rod. At that time every stroke 2 will be that of the rod of the foundation on which Jehovah will cause [him] to rest. Isaiah 30:31-32.

'The rod of the foundation' is the power of truth. For the meaning of 'the rod' as power, see 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026. And in Jeremiah,

They shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. Jeremiah 51:26.

'A stone for foundations' stands for the truths of faith.

[6] In Job,

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 3 Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Onto what [were] its bases [fastened]? Or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God bellowed? Job 38:4-7.

A person unacquainted with what 'the earth', 'its measures', and 'its bases' mean in the internal sense, and also what 'corner-stone', 'morning stars', and 'the sons of God' mean, sees no arcanum at all in this description. He will suppose that the actual earth, and also the foundations, measures, bases, and corner-stone of it are what is meant. Nor will he have any idea at all of what is meant by 'the morning stars sang' and 'the sons of God bellowed'. But a person will pass from darkness to light if he knows that 'the earth' is the Church, 'its foundations' are the truth of faith, 'its measures' the state of good and truth, 'its bases' the actual truths that provide support, 'the corner-stone' the power of truth, 'the morning stars' cognitions or knowledge of good and of truth springing from good, and 'the sons of God' God's truths. These sons are said 'to bellow' when they come into existence, those stars 'to sing' when they rise.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin volume in which these words appear was published in 1756.

2. literally, every passage or going across

3. literally, if you know intelligence

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.