9513. 'Of one piece with the mercy-seat you shall make the cherubs on the two ends' means the reception of all things that belong to worship arising from those two kinds of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship arising from the good of love, dealt with in 9506; from the meaning of 'the cherubs' as admission and access to the Lord through that good, dealt with in 9509; and from the meaning of 'the two ends' as celestial good and spiritual good, dealt with in 9511. From these meanings it is evident that 'of one piece with the mercy-seat you shall make the cherubs on its two ends' means the reception of all things that belong to worship arising from those kinds of good. What celestial good is and what spiritual good is, and what the difference is, see the places referred to in 9277.

2227. That 'Abraham will certainly become a great and numerous nation' means that from the Lord will come all good, and from this all truth, is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord, dealt with often above, and also from the meaning of 'nation' as good, dealt with in 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849 - here 'a great and numerous nation', by which good and truth deriving from it are meant. That 'great' has reference to good and 'numerous' to truth may become clear from other places in the Word, but I must refrain from quoting them here. Truth derived from good is in the genuine sense spiritual good, for there are two kinds of good, quite distinct and separate from each other, namely celestial good and spiritual good. Celestial good is the manifestation of love to the Lord, spiritual good the manifestation of love towards the neighbour. From the former, that is, celestial good, flows the latter, that is, spiritual good; for no one is able to love the Lord unless he also loves the neighbour. Love to the Lord embraces love towards the neighbour, for love to the Lord originates in the Lord, thus in Love itself towards the whole human race. Abiding in love to the Lord is the same as abiding in the Lord, and one who abides in the Lord must inevitably abide in His love which is directed towards the human race, and thus towards the neighbour, so that in him both kinds of good are present - both celestial and spiritual. Celestial good is indeed good itself, but spiritual good is in fact truth that goes with or is derived from that celestial good. This truth, as stated, is spiritual good. It is celestial good that is meant by 'great', but spiritual good by 'numerous'.