4599. And spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. That this signifies the interior things thereof, is evident from the signification of “spreading a tent,” as being the advancement of what is holy, here toward interior things (that a “tent” denotes what is holy may be seen above, n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4391); from the signification of “beyond the tower,” as being into interior things (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “Eder,” as being the quality of the state, namely, of the advancement of what is holy toward interior things. From ancient times this tower had this signification, but as it is mentioned nowhere else in the Word, except in Joshua 15:21, this cannot be confirmed from parallel passages, as is the case with other names. The reason why “beyond the tower” denotes toward interior things, is that the things which are interior are expressed by things lofty and high, thus by mountains, hills, towers, the roofs of houses, and the like. The reason is, that to minds which derive their ideas from the natural things of the world through the external senses, interior things appear as higher (n. 2148).

[2] That “towers” signify interior things may be seen also from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

My well beloved had a vineyard in a horn of the son of oil, which he fenced round and cleared of stones, and planted it with a noble vine, and built a tower in the midst of it (Isaiah 5:1-2).

The “vineyard” denotes the spiritual church; the “noble vine,” spiritual good; the “tower built in the midst of it,” the interior things of truth. In like manner also in the Lord’s parable in Matthew:

A man a householder planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen. (Matthew 21:33; Mark 12:1).

[3] In Ezekiel:

The sons of Arvad and thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers, they hung their shields upon thy walls round about; these have perfected thy beauty (Ezekiel 27:11);

treating of Tyre, by which are signified the knowledges of good and truth, or those who are in these knowledges; the “Gammadim in its towers” denote the knowledges of interior truth.

[4] In Micah:

Jehovah shall reign over them in Mount Zion from now and to eternity; and thou tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, and the former kingdom shall return, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem (Micah 4:7-8); where is described the Lord’s celestial kingdom; its inmost which is love to the Lord, by “Mount Zion;” its derivative which is mutual love, by the “hill of the daughter of Zion,” which love in the spiritual sense is called charity toward the neighbor; its interior truths of good by the “tower of the flock;” that from this comes the spiritual of the celestial kingdom is signified by the “kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

In David:

Let Mount Zion be glad, let the daughters of Judah exult because of Thy judgments; encompass ye Zion, and gird it around, count the towers thereof (Psalms 48:11-12); where the “towers” denote the interior truths which defend what is of love and charity.

[5] In Luke:

Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple; for which of you, desiring to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? Or what king, going to make war with another king, doth not first sit down and consult whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand (Luke 14:27-28, 31, 33);

he who does not know the internal sense of the Word must suppose that the Lord here spoke by comparisons, and that by building a tower and making war nothing further is meant, not knowing that all the comparisons in the Word are significative and representative, and that “to build a tower” is to procure for one’s self interior truths, and that “to make war” is to combat from these; for the subject here treated of is the temptations undergone by those who are of the church, and who are here called the Lord’s “disciples.” These temptations are signified by the “cross” which they must carry; and that they by no means conquer from themselves or from what is their own, but from the Lord, is signified by “whosoever renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.” Thus do all these things cohere; whereas if the things that are related of the tower and the war are understood only comparatively, without an interior sense, they do not cohere. From this it is manifest what light there is from the internal sense.

[6] The interiors of those who are in the love of self and the world, thus the falsities from which they combat, and by which they confirm their religiosity, are also expressed in the opposite sense by “towers,” as in Isaiah:

The loftiness of men shall be brought low, and Jehovah Zebaoth shall be exalted above everyone proud and high, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be humbled; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall (Isaiah 2:11-15); where the interiors and the exteriors of these loves are described by the “cedars,” “oaks,” “mountains,” “hills,” “tower,” and “wall” (interior falsities by the “tower”), thus also interior things by those which are high, with the difference that they who are in evils and falsities believe themselves high and above others, but they who are in goods and truths believe themselves less and below others (Matthew 20:26-27; Mark 10:44). Nevertheless goods and truths are described by high things, because in heaven they are nearer the Highest, that is, the Lord. Moreover “towers” in the word are predicated of truths, but “mountains” of goods.

414. That to “dwell in tents” signifies what is holy of love, is evident from the signification of “tents” in the Word. As in David:

Jehovah, who shall abide in Thy tent? Who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh upright, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart (Psalms 15:1-2),

in which passage, what it is to “dwell in the tent” or “in the mountain of holiness” is described by holy things of love, namely, the walking uprightly, and working righteousness. Again:

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their discourse to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tent for the sun (Psalms 19:4),

where the “sun” denotes love. Again:

I will abide in Thy tent to eternities, I will trust in the covert of Thy wings (Psalms 61:4),

where the “tent” denotes what is celestial, and the “covert of wings” what is spiritual thence derived.

In Isaiah:

By mercy the throne has been made firm, and one hath sat upon it in truth, in the tent of David, judging and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness (Isaiah 16:5),

where also the “tent” denotes what is holy of love, as may be seen by the mention of “judging judgment” and “hasting righteousness.” Again: Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be moved away (Isaiah 33:20), speaking of the heavenly Jerusalem.

[2] In Jeremiah:

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and will have mercy on his dwelling places, and the city shall be builded upon her own heap (Jeremiah 30:18).

The “captivity of tents” signifies the vastation of what is celestial, or of the holy things of love.

In Amos:

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen; and will fence up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of eternity (Amos 9:11),

where the “tabernacle” in like manner denotes what is celestial and the holy things thereof.

In Jeremiah:

The whole land is laid waste, suddenly are My tents laid waste, and My curtains in a moment (Jeremiah 4:20).

And in another place:

My tent is laid waste, and all My cords are plucked out, My sons are gone forth from Me, and they are not; there is none to stretch My tent anymore, and to set up My curtains (Jeremiah 10:20),

where the “tent” signifies celestial things, and “curtains” and “cords” spiritual things thence derived. Again:

Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry off for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels (Jeremiah 49:29),

speaking of Arabia and the sons of the east, by whom are represented those who possess what is celestial or holy. Again:

Into the tent of the daughter of Zion the Lord hath poured out His wrath like fire (Lamentations 2:4),

speaking of the vastation of the celestial or holy things of faith.

[3] The reason why the term “tent” is employed in the Word to represent the celestial and holy things of love, is that in ancient times they performed the holy rites of worship in their tents. But when they began to profane the tents by profane kinds of worship, the tabernacle was built, and afterwards the temple, and therefore tents represented all that was subsequently denoted first by the tabernacle, and afterwards by the temple. For the same reason a holy man is called a “tent” a “tabernacle” and a “temple” of the Lord. That a “tent” a “tabernacle” and a “temple” have the same signification, is evident in David:

One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after, that I may remain in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold Jehovah in sweetness, and to visit early in His temple; for in the day of evil He shall hide me in His tabernacle; in the secret of His tent shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up against mine enemies round about me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices of shouting (Psalms 27:4-6).

[4] In the supreme sense, the Lord as to His Human essence is the “tent” the “tabernacle” and the “temple;” hence every celestial man is so called, and also everything celestial and holy. Now as the Most Ancient Church was better beloved of the Lord than the churches that followed it, and as men at that time lived alone, that is, in their own families, and celebrated so holy a worship in their tents, therefore tents were accounted more holy than the temple, which was profaned. In remembrance thereof the feast of tabernacles was instituted, when they gathered in the produce of the earth, during which, like the most ancient people, they dwelt in tents (Leviticus 23:39-44; Deuteronomy 16:13; Hosea 12:9).