10127. 'Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar' means the completeness of the influx into heaven and into the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'seven days' as what is complete, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'making propitiation' as purification from evils and consequently falsities, also dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which is representative of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9388, 9389, 9714, 9964, at this point in heaven and in the Church, 10123. The reason why the sacrifice of a young bull to make propitiation and sanctify the altar should be carried out for seven days was that 'seven days', the same as 'a week', means a whole period, long or short, from start to finish. Therefore also 'seven days' means what is complete. The number three likewise means a whole period from start to finish, and therefore also what is complete. But the difference is that the word 'seven' is used where something holy is referred to, but 'three' when anything whatever is the subject.

[2] It should be remembered that spiritual realities are meant by all numbers in the Word, as is very well known in the next life, where sometimes sheets of paper full of numbers are sent down from heaven to spirits below. Those spirits who receive influx from the Lord see in them a whole chain of realities meant by the numbers, just as if letters had been used. I too have been allowed on several occasions to see such sheets of paper; and also I have been told about certain of the most ancient people, who inwardly lived in fellowship with angels, that they used numbers to embody matters of importance to their Church, and heavenly arcana, and stored those numbers away for themselves as a way of remembering. From this it becomes clear that all numbers in the Word serve to mean spiritual realities. For in the Word not a syllable is devoid of meaning, since the Word has been written not only for people in the world but also at the same time for angels in heaven. Consequently the Word consists of the Divine passing through all the heavens.

[3] All numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities or real things, see 575, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9659.

Seven in the Word implies holy things, 395, 433, 716, 881, 5265, 5268.

Seven also means a whole period from start to finish, thus a complete state, 6508, 9228, as does 'a week', 2044, 3845.

The number three has the same meaning, 2788, 4495, 4901, 5123, 5159, 7715, 9198, 9488, 9489, 9825.

[4] As regards 'making propitiation', it means purification from evils and consequently falsities, or what amounts to the same thing, the removal of them. And since 'making propitiation and expiation' has this meaning it also implies the implantation of goodness and truth and the joining together of the two by the Lord. The reason why this implantation is also implied is that to the extent that a person is purified from evils and falsities, goodness and truth are implanted and joined together by the Lord. When therefore the one has been postulated, the other is postulated. For the Lord is present with every person with the good of love; He loves all people and in His love wishes to join them to Himself, which is achieved through the good of love and the truth of faith. But the evils and consequent falsities which a person makes his own by a life of evil stand in the way and block influx from Him. From all this it is evident what propitiation and expiation is; see also 9506.

9489. 'And a cubit and a half its height' means what is complete so far as degrees are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'a cubit and a half' as what is complete, dealt with immediately above in 9488; and from the meaning of 'height' as degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned. The reason why 'height' has this meaning is that all good and the truth derived from it emanates from the Lord, and the Lord is in the highest place of all, and therefore is called the Most High, 8153. For He is the Sun of heaven, 5097, 8812, and that Sun is above the heavens; it is also the centre from which the whole of heaven that is underneath is brought into being and kept in being. All heights in heaven, measured from its Sun as the centre, are differences in good and the truth derived from it. Consequently those in the inmost heaven are closer to the Lord, because they are governed by the good of love to Him, thus are governed by good more than all others are. Those in the middle heaven are further away from there because they are governed by a lower kind of good, and those in the lowest are still further away. But those in hell are altogether remote from the Lord, because they are ruled by evil and the falsity arising from it. They do not even look towards the Sun, but backwards, away from the Sun. When regarded by the angels therefore, they appear in an upside down position, feet upwards and head downwards. Now since distances and spatial dimensions in the next life are appearances determined by states of good and the truth derived from it, 9440, 'height' in the spiritual sense means degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned, that is, degrees away from the Most High, who is the Lord and so Divine Good itself.

[2] From this it is clear what 'height' means in the following places, as in Jeremiah,

They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah; and their soul will be like a watered garden. Jeremiah 31:12.

Here 'the height of Zion' stands for celestial good, which is the level of good above spiritual good. The meaning of 'height' as good is what accounts for the statement that they will 'converge towards the goodness of Jehovah'. In Ezekiel,

Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon. Its height was made high, and its branches were made long by many waters. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches. Ezekiel 31:3, 5, 7.

'Asshur' stands for an enlightened power of reason, 'a cedar in Lebanon' for the spiritual Church, 'its height' for the degree of good.

[3] In the same prophet,

On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it. Ezekiel 17:23.

Again in the same prophet,

On My holy mountain, and on the mountain height of Israel, all the house of Israel will serve Me. Ezekiel 20:40.

'The mountain height of Israel' stands for the highest degree of good and of the truth derived from it among those belonging to the spiritual Church. Since most things in the Word have a contrary meaning as well, so too does 'height'. In the contrary sense it means the evil of self-love, and so haughtiness of mind, as in Isaiah 14:14; Ezekiel 31:10, 14; 32:5; Amos 2:9; Daniel 4:11, 20; and a number of other places. Another reason why 'height' means degrees so far as good and the truth derived from it are concerned is that what is 'high' means what is internal, and good becomes by degrees more perfect towards more internal parts. For the meaning of what is 'high' as what is internal, see 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599.

9659. 'And there shall be eight boards and their bases [made] from silver' means support in every respect from good and through truth that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'eight' as what is so in every respect, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'boards' as good that lends support, dealt with in 9634; and from the meaning of 'bases [made] from silver' as support provided through truth from good, dealt with in 9643.

[2] 'Eight' means in every respect because this number has the same meaning as two and four, being the product of these when multiplied together. 'Two' and 'four' mean being joined together, completely so, 5194, 8423, 8877, and consequently also mean what is complete, 9103, and therefore what is so in every respect; for what exists in completeness does so in every respect. Another reason why 'eight' means what exists in completeness and in every respect is that since 'a week' means a whole period from beginning to end, 2044, 3845, 'the eighth day' means a complete state, from which a new beginning then commences. This explains why males had to be circumcised on the eighth day, Genesis 17:12; 21:4, for circumcision was a sign of purification from foul kinds of love by means of the truth of faith, 2039, 2046 (end), 2799, 3412, 3413, 4462. The foreskin corresponded to the defilement of good by those kinds of love, 4462, 7045, 7225, and the knife of flint with which circumcision was carried out was a sign of the truth of faith by means of which purification was accomplished, 2039 (end), 2046 (end), 2799, 7044.

[3] What exists in completeness and in every respect is also meant by 'eight' following 'seven' in Micah,

When Asshur comes into our land and treads our palaces we will set up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men (homo), and they will feed ¹ the land of Asshur with the sword; and he will deliver [us] from Asshur. Micah 5:5-6.

'Asshur' stands for reasoning on the basis of one's own intelligence about the Church's forms of good and its truths. Deliverance totally or in every respect from consequent falsity is meant by 'eight princes of men' who will bring destruction, 'princes of men' being the leading truths that rise out of good.

[4] The fact that 'eight' means completeness and in every respect is also clear from an experience I had involving the admission and reception of some communities into heaven, about which see 2130. I saw as many as twelve communities received first, and after them as many as eight more; for people admitted and received into heaven are those who have been purified from earthly things, that is, from all love of them, and have gone on to receive instruction. The number eight on that occasion was a sign of that which was complete.

[5] 'Eight' has a similar meaning elsewhere in the Word, for example where it says that the portico of the gateway was 'eight cubits' long from the house, and that there were 'eight steps' up to the house, in Ezekiel 40:9, 31, 41. The description there is of the new house, by which the Lord's New Church is meant, truths leading to good and from good back to truths being meant by 'the portico' and 'the steps'.

[6] Anyone who does not know that spiritual realities or real things are implied by the numbers used in the Word cannot possibly see any such reality nor thus anything holy in the measures and numbers where the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and after these the new house, new temple, and new land in Ezekiel, are described, when yet not a syllable in the Word is devoid of spiritual meaning. Let all who have intelligence weigh up in their mind what the measures and numbers in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel really mean, also the measures and numbers in John, at Revelation 21:17, where it says that the angel measured the wall of the new Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this measure was that of a man (homo), that is, of an angel, and also in the following, besides many other places,

Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man (homo), that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:18.

For more about all numbers in the Word, that they mean spiritual realities or real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973, and places where the specific meaning of certain numbers has been shown.

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