8935. 'An altar of soil you shall make for Me' means something which in a general way represents worship that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as the chief representative of the Lord and consequently of the worship of Him, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489, 4541; and from the meaning of 'soil' or 'the ground' as good. The reason why 'the ground' stands for good is that a Church which abides in good is meant by 'the ground', 566. This is why Adam was said to be formed from the ground, at Genesis 2:7; 3:19; for one who belonged to the celestial Church, that is, the Church itself abiding in good, was meant by him, 478, 479. Since there are two entities that inspire worship of the Lord - goodness and truth - worship springing from good was represented by an altar of soil, while worship springing from truth was represented by an altar of stones. Both kinds of altars are the subject here; and those two entities that inspire worship are called faith and charity. Worship springing from truth has connection with faith, and worship springing from good has connection with charity.

[2] As regards worship inspired by faith and worship inspired by charity, or that which springs from truth and that which springs from good, the situation is that before a person has been regenerated his worship consists of truth, but after he has been regenerated it consists of good. Before a person has been regenerated he is led by means of truth to good, that is, by means of faith to charity; but when he has been regenerated he abides in good and consequently in truth, that is, in charity and consequently in faith, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658. These two kinds of worship are what the altars of soil and of stone represent. The reason why the altar is the chief representative of worship of the Lord is that burnt offerings and sacrifices were offered on it; and it was in these that the worship of God by the Hebrew nation, and subsequently by the Israelite and Jewish nation, chiefly consisted, 923, 1343, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519, 6405.

2807. 'Abraham said, God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son' means the reply: The Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing to for oneself', when used in reference to God, as foreseeing and providing - for 'to see' in the internal sense nearest to the literal means to understand, 2150, 2325, whereas in the sense yet more interior it means having faith, 897, 2325, while in the highest sense it means foreseeing and providing; and also from the meaning of 'the animal for a burnt offering' as those members of the human race who are to be sanctified, dealt with just above in 2805. That 'the animal for a burnt offering' is here used to mean those who are spiritual is evident from what follows. The kinds of animals used for burnt offering and sacrifice each had a different meaning. That is to say, a lamb meant one thing, a sheep another, a kid and she-goat another, a ram and he-goat another, an ox yet another, as did a young bull and a calf. And young pigeons and turtle doves had meanings different again. It is quite clear that each kind of animal had its own meaning from the fact that it was laid down explicitly which kind were to be sacrificed on each particular day, at each particular religious festival, when atonement was being made, cleansing effected, inauguration carried out, and all other occasions. Which kinds were to be used on which occasions would never have been laid down so explicitly unless each one had possessed some specific meaning.

[2] Clearly all the religious observances or forms of external worship which existed in the Ancient Church, and subsequently in the Jewish, represented the Lord, so that the burnt offerings and sacrifices in particular represented Him since these were the chief forms of worship among the Hebrew nation. And because they represented the Lord they also at the same time represented among men those things that are the Lord's, that is to say, the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith, and as a consequence of this represented the people themselves who were celestial and spiritual or who ought to have been so. This is why 'the animal' here means those who are spiritual, that is, those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church. As regards 'God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son' meaning that the Divine Human will provide them, this is clear from the fact that here it is not said that 'Jehovah' will see to it but that 'God' will do so. When both of these names occur, as they do in this chapter, Jehovah is used to mean the same as 'the Father', and God the same as 'the Son', so that here the Divine Human is meant; and a further reason for the usage is that the spiritual man, whose salvation comes from the Divine Human, is the subject, see 2661, 2716.