9666. 'And the middle bar in the midst of the boards that passes through from end to end' means the chief power from which the power everywhere else extends. This is clear from the meaning of 'bar' or 'pole' as power, dealt with in 9496; from the meaning of 'middle' as what is inmost and chief, dealt with in 1074, 2940, 2973, 5897, 6084, 6103; from the meaning of 'passing through from end to end', when it refers to 'the bar' by which power is meant, as the power everywhere else that is derived and extends from it.

[2] None can have any real knowledge of these matters unless they know about the nature of things which are more internal and those which are more external in the spiritual world. Things that are the best and purest, and so more perfect than all others, exist in the inmost part. Those which are spread out from there towards more external parts are less and less perfect the further away they lie from inmost things, ending in those in the outermost parts, which are the least perfect of all, 9648. Things are said to be less perfect when they can be more easily twisted out of the shape and beauty they possess, and so out of the order that is theirs. The situation in all this is like that with fruits. Within them they have seeds, surrounded by the flesh. The seeds exist in a state more perfect than the flesh outside them, as becomes clear from the fact that when the flesh decays the seeds still remain intact. The like applies to the seeds themselves. Inmostly in these there is the reproductive germ, which exists in a perfect state compared with the parts outside it; for the germ remains in its intactness, producing a new tree or young plant when the more external parts of the seed are broken down. Things in heaven are arranged in the same way. The inmost things there, being closer to the Lord, exist in a perfect state compared with more external ones. For this reason the inmost heaven enjoys greater wisdom and intelligence, and consequently greater happiness than the heavens below. The like applies within each heaven; the inmost is more perfect than the surrounding parts. The like applies also to the person with whom the good of love and the truths of faith are present. That person's internal exists in a more perfect state than the external; for the internal man dwells in the heat and light of heaven, but the external in the heat and light of the world. In every form that is perfect the situation is the same, in that its inmost part is the best, the inmost being what is meant by 'the middle'.

[3] The reason why 'passing through from end to end', said in reference to a bar or pole, means the power everywhere else that is derived and extends from the chief power is that 'from end to end' means the first end and the final end, ¹ thus from beginning to end since the first end is the beginning. Consequently by 'the ends' all things and everywhere are meant, as in Jeremiah,

The sword of Jehovah is devouring from [one] end of the land to the [other] end of it. Jeremiah 12:12.

'The sword' stands for truth engaged in conflict against falsity and destroying it, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict against truth and destroying it, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294. 'Devouring from [one] end of the land to the [other] end of it' stands for all things of the Church, 'the land' being the Church, 9334. In David,

From the end of the heavens is His going forth, and His circuit to the ends of them. Psalms 19:6.

Here also 'from the end of the heavens to the ends of them' stands for all things and everywhere.

[4] In Mark,

He will send His angels and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth even to the end of heaven. Mark 13:27.

'The end of the earth' and 'the end of heaven' stand for all the external and the internal things of the Church, 'the earth' being the external part of the Church and 'heaven' the internal part of it, see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535, where it explains what a new earth and a new heaven are. The plural 'ends' has the same meaning, in Isaiah,

Look to Me, that you may be saved, all ends of the earth. Isaiah 45:22.

In David,

O God of our salvation, [You are] the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the far-off parts of the sea. Psalms 65:5.

And the singular has the same meaning in the expression 'even to the end': In Isaiah,

... [that] you may be ² My salvation even to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah will cause it to be heard even to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation will come. Isaiah 62:11.

In Jeremiah,

A clamour will come even to the end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:31.

'Even to the end' implies from end to end.

[5] But when 'end' is used to denote solely what is outermost or last and lowest it means that which is the lowest part of heaven or of the Church, as in Isaiah,

Sing to Jehovah a new song; [sing] His praise, you end of the earth falling away to the sea, and you fullness of it (the islands and their inhabitants). Isaiah 42:10.

'You end of the earth falling away to the sea' stands for the last and lowest part of the Church where goodness and truth dwell in obscurity. For this meaning of 'the sea', see 9653. 'The islands' stands for those more remote from truths, and consequently from [true] worship, 1158.

[6] In the same prophet,

Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

'Sons from afar' are those who dwell in obscurity in respect of truths, 'daughters from the end of the earth' those who do so in respect of forms of good, as gentile nations did. By 'sons' those in possession of truths are meant, and in the abstract sense truths themselves, see 264, 489, 491, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, and by 'daughters' those with whom forms of good exist, and in the abstract sense the forms of good themselves, 489-491, 2362, 3963, 8994. From this it is also evident that 'end' has regard to good and 'afar' to truth, as also in Psalms 65:5 and Isaiah 13:5. But it should be remembered that by 'the end of heaven' not an end that is spatial but a state of goodness and truth should be understood; for there is no space in heaven, only an appearance of it that is determined by states of goodness and truth.

फुटनोट:

3939. 'And she called his name Asher' means the essential nature. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, as above. The essential nature itself is what 'Asher' represents. In the original language Asher means blessedness, but the name includes within it everything meant by the words of Leah his mother - 'in my blessedness! for the daughters will call me blessed'. That is to say, the name also means the delight that belongs to the affections and corresponds to the happiness of eternal life. This is the fourth general means which joins the external man to the internal man. Indeed when anyone perceives within himself that corresponding delight his external man is beginning to be joined to the internal. It is the delights belonging to the affections for truth and good which cause the internal man and the external to be joined together, for without such delights no joining together at all is achieved since it is within those delights that the person's life dwells. For affections are the means by which every joining together is effected, see 3024, 3066, 3336, 3849, 3909. By 'the daughters who will call her blessed' Churches are meant; for 'daughters' in the internal sense of the Word are Churches, see 2362. This exclamation about blessedness was made at this point by Leah because the births by the servant-girls mean general truths which are the means that serve to effect any joining together so that the Church may come into being in a person. For when a person perceives this delight or affection he is starting to become the Church. That being so, Leah's exclamation about the fourth or last son by the servant-girls occurs here.

[2] Asher is mentioned in various places in the Word, but in those places - as with all the other sons also - the essential nature of the thing that is being referred to is meant by him, that is, the essential nature of people passing through the state under discussion at that point is meant. Also, what the essential nature is varies according to the order in which the sons are named. One thing is meant when Reuben or faith heads the list, another when Judah or celestial love does so, and yet another when Joseph or spiritual love. For the essence and nature of whichever one heads the list leads off and passes over into those that follow. This is why their spiritual meanings vary from place to place where they are mentioned. At this point where the birth of them is the subject they mean the general aspects of the Church and therefore all things of faith and love which constitute the Church. They have this meaning because the subject previous to this was the regeneration of man, that is, a person's states before he becomes the Church, and in the highest sense it was the Lord and how He made His Human Divine. So the subject is the ascent by means of the stairway even up to Jehovah which was seen in Bethel by Jacob.