425. The world is still unaware that bronze symbolizes earthly good, and that every metal named in the Word is a symbol for something in the inner meaning. Gold, for instance, symbolizes heavenly good, silver symbolizes spiritual truth, bronze earthly good, iron earthly truth, and so on with all the rest. The same is true for stone and wood. The gold, silver, bronze, and wood used in the ark and in the tabernacle symbolize these things, as do those used in the Temple, all of which will be taken up later, with the Lord's divine mercy. 1
These symbolic meanings shine out in the prophets. In Isaiah, for example:
You will suck the milk of the nations, and you will suck the nipple of monarchs. For bronze I will bring in gold; and for iron I will bring in silver; and for wood, bronze; and for stones, iron; and I will make peace your property, and justice your taskmaster. (Isaiah 60:16-17)
This is about the Lord's Coming, his kingdom, and the church whose character is heavenly. "For bronze, gold" means heavenly goodness in place of earthly goodness. "For iron, silver" means spiritual truth in place of earthly truth. "For wood, bronze" means goodness on the earthly level in place of goodness on the bodily level. "For stones, iron" means truth on the earthly level in place of truth gained through the senses. 2 In Ezekiel:
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your dealers in human souls; and vessels of bronze they sold as your trade goods. (Ezekiel 27:13)
The subject here is Tyre, which symbolizes those who have spiritual and heavenly riches; the vessels of bronze stand for earthly goodness. In Moses:
... a land whose stones are iron, and from its mountains you will mine bronze. (Deuteronomy 8:9)
Here too the stones stand for truth gained through the senses, iron stands for truth on the earthly plane, or truth in the rational mind, and bronze stands for good on the earthly plane. Ezekiel saw four living creatures (guardian beings) with feet gleaming "like the appearance of burnished bronze" (Ezekiel 1:7), where again bronze symbolizes good on the earthly level, because a person's foot represents the earthly level. Daniel likewise saw:
A man clothed in linen, and his hips were circled with the gold of Uphaz, and his body was like tarshish, 3 his arms and his feet were like the appearance of burnished bronze. (Daniel 10:5-6)
The bronze snake mentioned in Numbers 21:9 represented goodness present in the Lord on the level of the senses and on the earthly plane. See the earlier discussion [§197].
Footnotes:
1. On the sacred and symbolic use of these materials, see the explanations of Exodus 25-30 in volumes 14, 15. [LHC]
2. In Swedenborg's theology, the earthly level is the mind's lowest level and is closely connected with the physical world but remains a step above the body and its senses. See §§259, 4038; see also note 2 in §8. [LHC]
3. For tarshish as a precious stone, see note 2 in §114. [LHC]
