9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

7572. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven. That this signifies communication with heaven, is evident from the signification of “stretching forth a rod,” as being to direct the attention to, thus to communicate, according to what was unfolded above (n. 7568). By “heaven” is signified the angelic heaven.

8680. 'And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God' means worship springing from the good of love and the truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a burnt offering and sacrifices' as representatives of celestial and spiritual realities that belong to internal worship, 'burnt offerings' being representative of celestial realities, that is, aspects of the good of love, and 'sacrifices' being representative of spiritual ones, that is, aspects of the truth of faith, dealt with in 922, 923, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218, 3519, 6905. The representation of 'burnt offerings' as aspects of the good of love, and of 'sacrifices' as aspects of the truth of faith, is clear from their institution - from the requirement that in burnt offerings everything was to be burnt, both the flesh and the blood, but that in sacrifices the flesh was to be eaten, as may be seen in chapters 1-5 of Leviticus; Numbers 28; and in Deuteronomy, where the following words occur,

You are to present, your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God; the blood of the sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, and the flesh you shall eat. Deuteronomy 12:27.

The reason why those two realities were represented by the burnt offerings and sacrifices is that burnt offerings and sacrifices represented all worship of God in general, 923, 6905; and worship of God in general is founded on love and faith. Without these it is not worship, only ritual such as is performed by the external man who has no internal and so no life within him.