10543. By Mount Horeb. That this signifies in the external things of worship, of the church, and of the Word, is evident from the signification of “Mount Horeb,” as being Divine truth in the external things, for Horeb was a mountainous region around Mount Sinai; and by “Mount Sinai” is signified Divine truth. Consequently “Horeb,” being a mountainous region round about it, signifies Divine truth in external things; for that which is in the midst and which is high above the things that lie round about, signifies what is internal; and consequently by that which is round about and beneath is signified what is external. (That “Mount Sinai” signifies Divine truth, see n. 8805, 9420; that “the midst” denotes what is internal, n. 1074, 2940, 2973, 5897, 6084, 6103, 9164; in like manner what is high, n. 2148, 4210, 4599, 9489, 9773, 10181; and that “roundabout” denotes what is external, n. 2973; in like manner “beneath.”) As the people were in external things, and not in what is internal, therefore when the Law was promulgated from Mount Sinai, they stood in Horeb beneath the mountain, and the mountain was hedged about to prevent its being touched by the people (Exodus 19:12-13, 21-24; 20:18; Deuteronomy 4:11-12). It is said “the external of worship, of the church, and of the Word,” because the external of one is the external of the other, for worship belongs to the church, and the truths and goods of the church and of its worship are from the Word; and therefore those who are in the externals of worship and of the church are in the externals of the Word.

4210. And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice in the mountain. That this signifies worship from the good of love, is evident from the signification of a “sacrifice,” as being worship (see n. 922, 923, 2180); and from the signification of a “mountain,” as being the good of love (n. 795, 796, 1430). “Sacrifice” signifies worship because sacrifices and burnt-offerings were the chief things of all the worship in the later or Hebrew representative church. They also sacrificed on mountains, as is evident from various passages in the Word, because “mountains,” from their height, signified things which are high, such as are those which are of heaven and are called celestial; and hence in the supreme sense they signified the Lord, whom these people called the Most High. They thought in this way from the appearance, for things which are more interior appear higher, as does heaven to man. This is interiorly within him, yet man supposes that it is on high. For this reason where what is high is mentioned in the Word, in the internal sense there is signified that which is interior. In the world it must be supposed that heaven is on high, both because the visible heavens spread above us are so called, and because man is in time and place, and therefore thinks from ideas thence derived; and also because few know what that which is interior is, and still fewer that there is there neither place nor time. It is for this reason that the language of the Word is in agreement with the ideas of man’s thought; and if instead of being so it had been in accordance with angelic ideas, the result would have been that men would have perceived nothing at all; but everyone would have stood wondering what it was, and whether it was anything at all, and so would have rejected it as being destitute of anything fit for the understanding.