2974. 'Was made over to Abraham as an acquisition' means that these things - the whole nature and extent of regeneration as regards the good and truth of faith, and so as regards all interior and exterior cognitions - were considered to be the Lord's alone. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord, often dealt with already, and from the meaning of 'an acquisition' as those things that are His, and so are considered to be His alone. It is a leading article of faith that all good and all truth are the Lord's, and so come from the Lord alone. The more anyone acknowledges this inwardly the more he is inwardly in heaven, for those in heaven see with perception that this is so. In heaven a sphere of perception that it is so exists because those there are governed by good which is derived from the Lord alone; and this is called being in the Lord. The degrees of that perception go from the middle to outlying parts, as stated immediately above in 2973.

To “dwell” somewhere, then, is significant – it’s much more than just visiting – but is less permanent than living there. And indeed, to dwell somewhere in the Bible represents entering that spiritual state and engaging it, but not necessary permanently. A “dwelling,” meanwhile, represents the various loves that inspire the person who inhabits it, from the most evil – “those dwelling in the shadow of death” in Isaiah 9, for example – to the exalted state of the tabernacle itself, which was built as a dwelling-place for the Lord and represents heaven in all its details. Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and raised quickly. Others, of course, lived in houses, generally made of stone and wood and quite permanent. In between the two were larger, more elaborate tent-style structures called tabernacles or dwellings; the tabernacle Moses built for the Ark of the Covenant is on this model.