10051. 'And put them on top of its pieces and of its head' means the arrangement into order of the more external things under the interior and under the inmost ones. This is clear from the meaning of 'pieces' as the interior things, dealt with above in 10048; from the meaning of 'the head' as what is inmost, dealt with in 5328, 6436, 9656, 9913, 9914; from the meaning of 'the intestines and the legs', which were to be put on top of them, as the outermost and the more external things (for the meaning of 'the intestines' as the outermost or lowest things, see 10030, and for that of 'the legs' as the more external things, 10050); and from the meaning of 'putting these on top of the others' as arranging them into order. The reason why arranging the more external things into order under the interior ones is meant and not, according to the literal sense, above them is that the altar and the fire on the altar are the highest or inmost things. For the altar represented the Lord's Divine Human in respect of Divine Good, and the fire His actual Divine Love, and therefore the parts of the ram and burnt offering nearest the fire of the altar were higher or more internal, while those on top of them, being further away from the fire of the altar, were lower or more external. For in the internal sense the things nearest to what is highest are regarded as being higher or more internal, and those that are further away from it are regarded as being lower or more external, unlike the way things are stated in the literal sense. Whether you say higher and lower ones, or more internal and more external, it amounts to the same thing, because what is higher is more internal and what is lower is more external, 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325. From this it is now evident that 'you shall put the intestines and legs on top of the pieces and on top of the head' means that the outermost and the more external things must be arranged into order under the interior and the inmost ones.

The altar was representative of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of Divine Good, see 921, 2777, 2811, 9388, 9389, 9714, 9964.

The fire of the altar is His Divine Love, 6832.

10050. 'And its legs' means purification of the more external things belonging to the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing the legs' as purification of the natural man (for the meaning of 'washing' as purifying, see immediately above in 10049); and from the meaning of 'the legs' as the more external things belonging to the natural man. The reason why these things are meant by 'the legs' is that one must at the same time understand the feet, since an animal's four legs are closely connected to its feet, and 'the feet' by virtue of their correspondence mean the natural or external level in a person, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 4938-4952.

[2] Much the same is meant by 'the legs' in Amos,

As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel dwelling in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and on the end of a couch. Amos 3:12.

'The lion' here means those who lay the Church waste, 'legs' the external part of it, which is also the external part of the natural man, 'a piece of an ear' its discernment, and those 'dwelling in Samaria' those whose worship is external. 'The corner of a bed and the end of a couch' is the lowest part of the natural, which is external sensory awareness and its truth and good.

[3] In Daniel's description of Nebuchadnezzar's statue - its head made of pure gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and side of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay, Daniel 2:32-33 - what is meant by 'the legs' is the truth of faith in the external or natural man; and the same thing is also meant by 'iron', see 10030. The reason why the legs in the description are distinguished from the feet is that human legs are by nature different from animal legs.