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Exodus 26

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1 `And thou dost make the tabernacle: ten curtains of twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; [with] cherubs, work of a designer, thou dost make them;

2 the length of the one curtain [is] eight and twenty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit, one measure [is] to all the curtains;

3 five of the curtains are joining one unto another, and five curtains are joining one to another.

4 `And thou hast made loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain, at the end in the joining; and so thou makest in the edge of the outermost curtain, in the joining of the second.

5 fifty loops thou dost make in the one curtain, and fifty loops thou dost make in the edge of the curtain which [is] in the joining of the second, causing the loops to take hold one unto another;

6 and thou hast made fifty hooks of gold, and hast joined the curtains one to another by the hooks, and the tabernacle hath been one.

7 `And thou hast made curtains of goats' [hair], for a tent over the tabernacle; thou dost make eleven curtains:

8 the length of the one curtain [is] thirty by the cubit, and the breadth of the one curtain four by the cubit; one measure [is] to the eleven curtains;

9 and thou hast joined the five curtains apart, and the six curtains apart, and hast doubled the six curtains over-against the front of the tent.

10 `And thou hast made fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain, the outermost in the joining, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is joining the second;

11 and thou hast made fifty hooks of brass, and hast brought in the hooks into the loops, and hast joined the tent, and it hath been one.

12 `And the superfluity in the curtains of the tent -- the half of the curtain which is superfluous -- hath spread over the hinder part of the tabernacle;

13 and the cubit on this side, and the cubit on that, in the superfluity in the length of the curtains of the tent, is spread out over the sides of the tabernacle, on this and on that, to cover it;

14 and thou hast made a covering for the tent, of rams' skins made red, and a covering of badgers' skins above.

15 `And thou hast made the boards for the tabernacle, of shittim wood, standing up;

16 ten cubits [is] the length of the board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of the one board;

17 two handles [are] to the one board, joined one unto another; so thou dost make for all the boards of the tabernacle;

18 and thou hast made the boards of the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side southward;

19 and forty sockets of silver thou dost make under the twenty boards, two sockets under the one board for its two handles, and two sockets under the other board for its two handles.

20 `And for the second side of the tabernacle, for the north side, [are] twenty boards,

21 and their forty sockets of silver, two sockets under the one board, and two sockets under another board.

22 And for the sides of the tabernacle westward, thou dost make six boards.

23 And two boards thou dost make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

24 And they are pairs beneath, and together they are pairs above its head unto the one ring; so is it for them both, they are for the two corners.

25 And they have been eight boards, and their sockets of silver [are] sixteen sockets, two sockets under the one board, and two sockets under another board.

26 `And thou hast made bars of shittim wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

27 and five bars for the boards of the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle at the two sides, westward;

28 and one hath caused the middle bar in the midst of the boards to reach from end unto end;

29 and the boards thou dost overlay [with] gold, and their rings thou dost make of gold places for bars, and hast overlaid their bars with gold;

30 and thou hast raised up the tabernacle according to its fashion which thou hast been shewn in the mount.

31 `And thou hast made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer; he maketh it [with] cherubs;

32 and thou hast put it on four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid [with] gold, their pegs [are] of gold, on four sockets of silver.

33 `And thou hast put the vail under the hooks, and hast brought in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony; and the vail hath made a separation for you between the holy and the holy of holies.

34 `And thou hast put the mercy-seat on the ark of the testimony, in the holy of holies.

35 `And thou hast set the table at the outside of the vail, and the candlestick over-against the table on the side of the tabernacle southward, and the table thou dost put on the north side.

36 `And thou hast made a covering for the opening of the tent, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer;

37 and thou hast made for the covering five pillars of shittim [wood], and hast overlaid them [with] gold, their pegs [are] of gold, and thou hast cast for them five sockets of brass.

   

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True Christianity # 260

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260. It is important to know as well that the literal meaning is a protection to prevent harm to the genuine truths that lie inside it. The nature of this protection is that the literal meaning can be turned this way and that and explained to different levels of comprehension without damaging or violating what is inside. It does no harm if one person takes the literal meaning one way and another takes it another way. It is harmful, however, if people bring in false ideas that go against divine truths. Only people who are adamant about falsities do this. Doing so does violence to the Word. The literal meaning offers protection to prevent this from happening. It also offers protection to people who have been given false ideas by their religion but have not become adamant about them.

The angel guardians in the Word both stand for and portray the protecting role of the Word's literal meaning. This protection is the meaning of the angel guardians who were placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden after Adam was thrown out with his wife. About this we read,

When Jehovah God expelled the human, he made angel guardians dwell on the east side of the garden of Eden and made the flame of a sword turning this way and that to guard the pathway to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)

[2] No one could see what these details mean without knowing the meaning of "angel guardians," "the garden of Eden," the garden's "tree of life," and "the flame of a sword" turning this way and that. These details have been explained in the relevant chapter of Secrets of Heaven, published in London [Secrets of Heaven 305-313]. To be specific, the "angel guardians" mean protection. The "pathway to the tree of life" means the access to the Lord available to people through the truths in the Word's spiritual meaning. The "flame of a sword turning" means divine truth on the outermost level, which is like the Word in its literal meaning; it is similarly capable of being turned this way and that.

The same thing is meant by the angel guardians made of gold that were placed on the two ends of the mercy seat that was on top of the ark in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-21). The "ark" meant the Word because the Ten Commandments are the most basic thing in the Word. The "angel guardians" meant protection, which is why the Lord spoke with Moses from between the angel guardians (Exodus 25:22; 37:9; Numbers 7:89). Further, the Lord spoke to Moses in the earthly meaning because he does not speak with us unless he speaks in a complete way, and divine truth has its complete form in the literal meaning (see 214-224 above).

The angel guardians on the curtains and the veil in the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31) had a similar meaning. The curtains and the veil in the tabernacle meant the outermost aspects of heaven and the church; therefore they meant the outermost aspects of the Word as well (see 220 above).

The same applies to the angel guardians carved on the walls and doors of the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35); see 221 above. Likewise, the angel guardians in the new temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20).

[3] Angel guardians mean the protection that prevents people from going directly to the Lord, heaven, and the divine truth in the form it takes inside the Word, and steers them instead to go indirectly through the [Word's] outermost level. For this reason we read the following statements about the king of Tyre:

You who seal up your measurement; full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was your covering. You, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering. I lost you, O protecting angel guardian, in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:12-14, 16)

"Tyre" means the church's knowledge of goodness and truth. "The king of Tyre" means the Word where that knowledge exists and originates. The king clearly means the Word on its outermost level and the angel guardian means protection, because it says, "You who seal up your measurement, every precious stone is your covering, you, O angel guardian, were the stretching out of a covering," and "O protecting angel guardian. " On the precious stones listed in that passage as referring to aspects of the literal meaning, see 217, 218 above. Since "angel guardians" mean the Word at the outermost level and protection as well, therefore we read the following phrases in David:

Jehovah bowed down the heavens and came down. He rode upon an angel guardian. (Psalms 18:9-10)

Shine forth, O Shepherd of Israel who sits upon angel guardians. (Psalms 80:1)

Jehovah sitting upon angel guardians. (Psalms 99:1)

Riding and sitting "upon angel guardians" refers to the Word's outermost meaning.

The Word's divine truth and the qualities of that truth are portrayed by four creatures that are also called angel guardians (Ezekiel 1:9-10), and by four creatures in the middle of the throne and next to it (Revelation 4:6-7). See Revelation Unveiled (which I published in Amsterdam) 239, 275, 314.

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