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Esodo 26

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1 Farai poi il tabernacolo di dieci teli di lino fino ritorto, di filo color violaceo, porporino e scarlatto, con dei cherubini artisticamente lavorati.

2 La lunghezza d’ogni telo sarà di ventotto cubiti, e la larghezza d’ogni telo di quattro cubiti; tutti i teli saranno d’una stessa misura.

3 Cinque teli saranno uniti assieme, e gli altri cinque teli saran pure uniti assieme.

4 Farai de’ nastri di color violaceo all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della prima serie; e lo stesso farai all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della seconda serie.

5 Metterai cinquanta nastri al primo telo, e metterai cinquanta nastri all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della seconda serie di teli: i nastri si corrisponderanno l’uno all’altro.

6 E farai cinquanta fermagli d’oro, e unirai i teli l’uno all’altro mediante i fermagli, perché il tabernacolo formi un tutto.

7 Farai pure dei teli di pel di capra, per servir da tenda per coprire il tabernacolo: di questi teli ne farai undici.

8 La lunghezza d’ogni telo sarà di trenta cubiti, e la larghezza d’ogni telo, di quattro cubiti; gli undici teli avranno la stessa misura.

9 Unirai assieme, da sé, cinque di questi teli, e unirai da sé gli altri sei, e addoppierai il sesto sulla parte anteriore della tenda.

10 E metterai cinquanta nastri all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della prima serie, e cinquanta nastri all’orlo del telo ch’è all’estremità della seconda serie di teli.

11 E farai cinquanta fermagli di rame, e farai entrare i fermagli nei nastri e unirai così la tenda, in modo che formi un tutto.

12 Quanto alla parte che rimane di soprappiù dei teli della tenda, la metà del telo di soprappiù ricadrà sulla parte posteriore del tabernacolo;

13 e il cubito da una parte e il cubito dall’altra parte che saranno di soprappiù nella lunghezza dei teli della tenda, ricadranno sui due iati del tabernacolo, di qua e di là, per coprirlo.

14 Farai pure per la tenda una coperta di pelli di montone tinte di rosso, e sopra questa un’altra coperta di pelli di delfino.

15 Farai per il tabernacolo delle assi di legno d’acacia, messe per ritto.

16 La lunghezza d’un’asse sarà di dieci cubiti, e la larghezza d’un’asse, di un cubito e mezzo.

17 Ogni asse avrà due incastri paralleli; farai così per tutte le assi del tabernacolo.

18 Farai dunque le assi per il tabernacolo: venti assi dal lato meridionale, verso il sud.

19 Metterai quaranta basi d’argento sotto le venti assi: due basi sotto ciascun’asse per i suoi due incastri.

20 E farai venti assi per il secondo lato dei tabernacolo, il lato di nord,

21 e le oro quaranta basi d’argento: due basi sotto ciascun’asse.

22 E per la parte posteriore del tabernacolo, verso occidente, farai sei assi.

23 Farai pure due assi per gli angoli del tabernacolo, dalla parte posteriore.

24 Queste saranno doppie dal basso in su, e al tempo stesso formeranno un tutto fino in cima, fino al primo anello. Così sarà per ambedue le assi, che saranno ai due angoli.

25 Vi saranno dunque otto assi, con le loro basi d’argento: sedici basi: due basi sotto ciascun’asse.

26 Farai anche delle traverse di legno d’acacia: cinque, per le assi di un lato del tabernacolo;

27 cinque traverse per le assi dell’altro lato del tabernacolo, e cinque traverse per le assi della parte posteriore del tabernacolo, a occidente.

28 La traversa di mezzo, in mezzo alle assi, passera da una parte all’altra.

29 E rivestirai d’oro le assi, e farai d’oro i loro anelli per i quali passeranno le traverse, e rivestirai d’oro le traverse.

30 Erigerai il tabernacolo secondo la forma esatta che te n’è stata mostrata sul monte.

31 Farai un velo di filo violaceo, porporino, scarlatto, e di lino fino ritorto con de’ cherubini artisticamente lavorati,

32 e lo sospenderai a quattro colonne di acacia, rivestite d’oro, che avranno i chiodi d’oro e poseranno su basi d’argento.

33 Metterai il velo sotto i fermagli; e quivi, al di là del velo, introdurrai l’arca della testimonianza; quel velo sarà per voi la separazione del luogo santo dal santissimo.

34 E metterai il propiziatorio sull’arca della testimonianza nel luogo santissimo.

35 E metterai la tavola fuori del velo, e il candelabro dirimpetto alla tavola dal lato meridionale del tabernacolo; e metterai la tavola dal lato di settentrione.

36 Farai pure per l’ingresso della tenda una portiera di filo violaceo, porporino, scarlatto, e di lino fino ritorto, in lavoro di ricamo.

37 E farai cinque colonne di acacia per sospendervi la portiera; le rivestirai d’oro, e avranno i chiodi d’oro e tu fonderai per esse cinque basi di rame.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3519

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3519. 'And take for me from there two good kids of the she-goats' means truths born from that good. This is clear from the meaning of 'kids of the she-goats' as truths born from good, dealt with below. The reason for having 'two' was that as in the rational so in the natural there are things of the will and those of the understanding. Things in the natural that belong to the will are delights, while those that belong to the understanding are facts. These two have to be joined together if they are to be anything at all.

[2] As regards 'kids of the she-goats' meaning truths born from good, this becomes clear from those places in the Word where kids and she-goats are mentioned. It should be recognized that all gentle and useful beasts mentioned in the Word mean in the genuine sense celestial things, which are forms of good, and spiritual things, which are forms of truth, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218. And since there are various genera of celestial things or forms of good, and consequently there are various genera of spiritual things or forms of truth, one beast has a different meaning from another; that is to say, a lamb has one meaning, a kid another, and a sheep, she-goat, ram, he-goat, young bull, or ox another, while a horse or a camel has yet another meaning. Birds have a different meaning again, as also do beasts of the sea, such as sea monsters, and fish. The genera of celestial and spiritual things, and consequently of forms of good and truth, are more than anyone can number, even though when that which is celestial or good is mentioned, and also when that which is spiritual or truth, this is not envisaged as being anything complex, consisting of many parts, but as a single entity. Yet how complex both of these are, that is, how countless the genera are of which they consist, may be seen from what has been stated about heaven in 3241, to the effect that it is distinguished into countless separate communities, according to the genera of celestial and spiritual things, that is, of goods of love and of derivative truths of faith. Furthermore each genus of good and each genus of truth has countless species into which the communities of each genus are separated. And each species in a similar way has separate sub-species.

[3] The commonest genera of good and truth are what the living creatures offered as burnt offerings and sacrifices represented. And because the genera are quite distinct and separate, people were explicitly commanded to use those living creatures and no others, that is to say, in some sacrifices lambs and ewe-lambs, and also kids and female kids of she-goats were to be used, in other sacrifices rams and sheep, and also he-goats, were to be used, while in other sacrifices again, calves, young bulls, and oxen, or else pigeons and doves, were to be used, see 992, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218. What kids and she-goats meant however becomes clear both from the sacrifices in which they used to be offered and from other places in the Word. These show that lambs and ewe-lambs meant innocence belonging to the internal or rational man, and kids and she-goats innocence belonging to the external or natural man, and so the truth and the good of the latter.

[4] The fact that truth and good present in the innocence that belongs to the external or natural man is meant by a kid and a she-goat is clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, the calf also and the young lion and the sheep together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom and to the state there in which people have no fear of evil, that is, no dread of hell, because they are with the Lord. 'The lamb' and 'the kid' stand for people who have innocence within them, and who, being the most secure of all, are mentioned first.

[5] When all the firstborn of Egypt were smitten the people were commanded to kill from among the lambs or among the kids a male without blemish, and to put some of the blood on the doorposts and on the lintel of their houses; and so the destroyer would not strike them with the plague, Exodus 12:5, 7, 13. 'The firstborn of Egypt' means the good of love and charity that was wiped out, 3325. 'The lambs' and 'the kids' are states of innocence, in which those with whom these exist are secure from evil. Indeed all in heaven are kept secure by the Lord through states of innocence. That security was represented by the killing of the lamb or kid, and putting the blood on the doorposts and on the lintel of the houses. .

[6] To avert his own death when a person saw Jehovah manifested as an angel he would sacrifice 'a kid of the she-goats', as Gideon did when he saw Him, Judges 6:19, and also Manoah, Judges 13:15-16, 19. The reason they offered a kid was that Jehovah or the Lord cannot appear to anybody, not even to an angel, unless the one to whom He appears is in a state of innocence. Therefore as soon as the Lord is present people are brought into a state of innocence, for the Lord enters in by way of innocence, even with angels in heaven. Consequently no one is able to enter heaven unless he has a measure of innocence, according to the Lord's words recorded in Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17. Regarding people's belief that they would die when Jehovah appeared to them if they did not offer such a burnt offering, see Judges 13:22-23.

[7] Since genuine conjugial love is innocence itself, 2736, it was customary in the representative Church for a man to go to his wife with the gift of a kid of the she-goats, as one reads of Samson in Judges 15:1, and also of Judah when he visited Tamar, Genesis 38:17, 20, 23. The fact that 'a kid' and 'a she-goat' meant innocence is also evident from the sacrifices made as guilt offerings that a person would offer if he had sinned through error, Leviticus 1:10; 4:28; 5:6. Sinning through error is sinning through ignorance that has innocence within it. The same is evident from the following Divine command in Moses,

You shall bring the first of the firstfruits of your land to the house of Jehovah your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. Exodus 23:19; 34:26.

Here the requirement 'to bring the firstfruits of the land to the house of Jehovah' means the state of innocence which exists in early childhood; and 'not boiling a kid in its mother's milk' means that they were not to destroy the innocence of early childhood. This being their meaning, the one command, in both places referred to, follows directly after the other. In the literal sense there seems to be no connection at all between them as there is in the internal sense.

[8] Because kids and she-goats, as has been stated, meant innocence it was also required that the curtains over the tabernacle should be made from she-goat hair, Exodus 25:4; 26:7; 35:5-6, 23, 26; 36:14, as a sign that all the holy things represented in it depended for their very being on innocence. 'She-goat hair' means the last or outermost degree of innocence present in ignorance, such as exists with gentiles who in the internal sense are meant by the curtains of the tabernacle. These considerations now show what truths born of good are, and what the nature of these is, meant by the two good kids of the she-goats which Rebekah his mother spoke about to Jacob. That is to say, they are truths belonging to innocence or early childhood, meant also by the things which Esau was to bring to Isaac his father, dealt with in 3501, 3508. They were not in fact such truths, but initially they appeared to be. Thus it was that Jacob pretended by means of them to be Esau.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #2718

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2718. 'A wife from the land of Egypt' means the affection for knowledge, which the member of the spiritual Church possesses. This is clear from the meaning of 'a wife' as affection or good, dealt with in 915, 2517, and from the meaning of 'Egypt' as knowledge, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462. In this verse the member of the spiritual Church is described so far as the nature of his good, that is, the essence of his life, is concerned - that the good residing with him is obscure, but that it is brightened with light from the Lord's Divine Human. From that brightening of it the affection for truth arises in the rational part of his mind, and the affection for knowledge in the natural part. The reason the affection for good such as resides within the celestial man cannot arise in the spiritual man, but instead the affection for truth, is that the good residing with him is implanted in the understanding part of his mind, and is obscure compared with the celestial man's good, as shown in 2715. From this good no other type of affection can be generated and derived within his rational than the affection for truth, and through this affection for truth the affection for knowledge within the natural. No other truth is meant in this case than that which the person believes to be the truth, even though it may not in itself be the truth. Nor is knowledge used to mean such knowledge as the learned possess but all factual knowledge with which a person can be taught from what he experiences or hears in everyday life, from doctrine, and from the Word. It is the affection for such truth and knowledge that exists within the member of the spiritual Church.

[2] So that it may be known what is meant by the affection for truth existing with someone and what by the affection for good, let a brief statement be made regarding them. Those with the affection for truth think about, question, and discuss whether a thing is true, whether it is so. And when they are convinced it is true, or is so, they think about, question, and discuss what it is. Thus they remain rooted on the doorstep and cannot be admitted into wisdom until they no longer have any doubts. Those however with whom the affection for good exists know and perceive that the thing is so from the good itself governing them. Thus they do not remain on the doorstep but are in a room inside, having been admitted into wisdom.

[3] Take as an example the consideration that it is a celestial gift to think and to act from an affection for good, or from good. Those with whom the affection for truth exists discuss whether this is so, whether such a gift can exist, and what it may be. And so long as they are turning over doubts about it they are unable to be admitted. But those with the affection for good do not discuss or turn doubts over but assert that the thing is true and are for that reason admitted. For those with whom the affection for good exists, that is, those who are celestial, start off where those with the affection for truth, that is, those who are spiritual, come to a halt, so that the furthest point reached by the latter is the starting point for the former. That being so, those who are celestial are given to know, recognize, and perceive that affections for good are countless - as numerous as the communities in heaven - and that they are all joined together by the Lord into a heavenly form so as to constitute one human being so to speak. They are also given to define by perception the genus and species to which each affection belongs.

[4] Or take this example: All delight, blessedness, and happiness belong wholly to love, but the nature of the love determines that of the delight, blessedness, and happiness. The spiritual man fixes his mind on the question whether this is true and whether delight, blessedness, and happiness may not spring from some other source, such as from mixing with others, talking to others, meditation, or learning, and also whether they reside in possessions, position, reputation, and the glory resulting from these. As long as he is asking such questions he does not confirm himself in the truth that none of these accomplishes anything, only the affection born of love which is present within them and making them what they are. The celestial man however does not remain rooted in such preliminary questionings but immediately asserts that the thing is true. Consequently he is interested in the end in view and the realization of this, that is, he is governed by the very affections born of love which are countless, and in each one of which there are things beyond description, involving variations of delight, blessedness, and happiness that have no end.

[5] Take as a further example the consideration that the neighbour is to be loved for the good that resides with him. Those with whom the affection for truth exists think, question, and discuss whether this is true, that is, whether it is so. They ask what the neighbour is, what good is; but they go no further than this, and therefore they shut the door to wisdom against themselves. Those however with the affection for good assert that the thing is so and do not consequently shut the door against themselves but enter in and so come to know, recognize, and perceive from good who is pre-eminently the neighbour, also in what degree he is the neighbour, and that everyone in differing ways is the neighbour. Thus they perceive things beyond description, over and above what is known to those with the affection solely for truth.

[6] Take as yet another example the truth that a person who loves the neighbour for the good within him loves the Lord. Those with the affection for truth question whether this is so. And if they are told that anyone who loves the neighbour for the good within him loves the good, and that - since all good comes from the Lord and the Lord is present in good - when anyone loves good he also loves the Lord from whom that good comes and in which He is present, they then question whether that too is so. They also ask what loving good is, as well as what good is, and whether the Lord is present more so in good than in truth. As long as they remain rooted in such questionings they cannot get even a distant view of wisdom. But those with the affection for good know from perception that the thing is so and immediately behold the whole field of wisdom leading right on to the Lord.

[7] From these examples it may become clear why in comparison with those who have the affection for good, that is, with those who are celestial, obscurity exists with those who have the affection for truth, that is, with those who are spiritual Nevertheless the latter are able to pass from obscurity into light, provided that they are willing to adopt the affirmative attitude that all good belongs to love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour; also that love and charity constitute spiritual conjunction, and that these are the source of all blessedness and happiness, thus that heavenly life consists in the good belonging to love received from the Lord, but not in the truth of faith separated from it.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.