8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9832. 'And they shall take the gold' means the good reigning universally. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490, 9510. Its reigning universally is meant by the fact that the gold was interwoven everywhere in the ephod, as is clear from what is stated later on in this book,

They beat out ¹ the plates of gold and cut them up into threads, to work in among the violet, and in among the purple, and in among the twice-dyed scarlet, and in among the fine linen. Exodus 39:3.

'Reigning universally' describes that which is dominant and so is present in each individual part, see 5949, 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853-8858, 8865. The reason why the gold was interwoven everywhere was that Aaron's garments represented the spiritual heaven, 9814, and in that heaven good holds sway, as it also does in the remaining heavens. In the inmost heaven it is the good of love to the Lord, in the middle one the good of charity towards the neighbour, and in the lowest the good of faith. The truth however which belongs to faith leads the way to good, and afterwards is brought forth from it. From this it is evident that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him. If merely the knowledge of truths, called the truths of faith, is present in a person he does no more than stand in front of the door; or if, knowing those truths, he is looking towards good he goes through into the porch. But if, in knowing those truths, he is not looking towards good he cannot see heaven, not even from a long way off. The reason for saying that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him is that a person must have heaven within him while in the world if he is to enter it after death. For heaven exists within people; and it is granted in mercy to those who during their life in the world allow themselves to be led by means of the truths of faith into charity towards the neighbour and into love to the Lord, that is, into good. People are not in heaven until they have come into that state in which the Lord leads them by means of good, see 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139. By good is meant the good of life; and the good of life consists in the performance of what is good because there is a will for what is good, and a will for what is good springs from love; for what a person loves, he wills.

Notes de bas de page:

161. "'Remember therefore how you have received and heard.'" (3:3) This symbolically means that it should occur to them that all worship in its beginning is natural, and later becomes spiritual through truths from the Word and by a life according to them, and so on.

This is what is these words mean. They also mean that from the Word, from the teaching of the church drawn from the Word, and from sermons, everyone knows that truths must be learned, and that it is through truths that a person has faith and charity and everything else having to do with the church.

[2] The reality of this is something we showed many times in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), which we published in London. See, for example, the following:

That faith is acquired through truths, nos. 4353 4977, 7178, 10367.

That love for the neighbor or charity is acquired through truths, nos. 4368 7623, 7624, 8034.

That love toward the Lord is acquired through truths, nos. nos. 10143 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645.

That intelligence and wisdom are acquired through truths, nos. 3182 3190, 3387, 10064.

That regeneration is accomplished through truths, nos. 1555 1904, 2046, 2189, 9088, 9959, 10028.

That power against evils and falsities and against hell is gained through truths, nos. 3091 4015, 10488.

That purification from evils and falsities is accomplished through truths, nos. 2799 5954, 7044, 7918, 10229, 10237.

That the church is formed by means of truths, nos. 1798 1799, 3963, 4468, 4672.

That heaven is formed through truths, 6690, 9832, 9931, 10303.

That the innocence of wisdom is attained through truths, nos. 3183 3494, 6013.

That conscience is formed through truths, nos. 1077 2053, 9113.

That order is achieved through truths, nos. 3316 3417, 3570, 4104, 5339, 5343, 6028, 10303.

The beauty of angels is due to truths, and so, too, is the beauty of people as regards their inner qualities which are those of their spirit, nos. 553 3080, 4985, 5199.

That a person is human as a result of truths, nos. 3175 3387, 8370, 10298.

Even so, however, all of these effects are occasioned by truths springing from goodness, and not by truths apart from goodness, goodness that comes from the Lord, nos. 2434 4070, 4736, 5147.

That all goodness comes from the Lord, nos. 1614 2016, 2904, 4151, 5147, 9981.

[3] But who gives any thought to this? Is it not a matter of indifference today whether someone knows this or that truth, provided he attends services of worship? Moreover, because few explore the Word in order to learn truths and live by them, people do not know anything about their worship as to whether it is lifeless or living, and yet it is according to the character of his worship that a person is himself dead or alive.

Of what value otherwise are the Word and doctrine drawn from it? Of what value otherwise are observance of the Sabbath and sermons, or theological treatises? Indeed, of what value otherwise are the church and religion?

That all worship in the beginning is natural, and later becomes spiritual through truths from the Word and a life according to them, is something people know. For a person is born natural, but is taught to become civic-minded and moral, and later spiritual, for thus he is reborn.

All of this is symbolically meant, then, by the directive, "Remember therefore how you have received and heard."