432. Verse 5. Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed.

5. "Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed," signifies love to the Lord, and that all who are in that love are in heaven, and come into heaven n. 433; "of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed," signifies the light of truth from that good, and that all who are in that light are in heaven and come into heaven n. 434; "of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed," signifies the consequent good of life (n. 435, 436).

10149. 'And it will be sanctified in My glory' means reception of Divine Truth from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as the reception of what is Divine from the Lord, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'glory' as Divine Truth, dealt with in 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429. 'Being sanctified' means reception of what is Divine from the Lord because the Lord alone is holy, and therefore everything holy comes from Him, 9229, and also because Divine Truth emanating from Him is what is meant by 'holy' in the Word, 9818. But at this point, where the children of Israel, burnt offerings and sacrifices, the tent of meeting, and the altar are the subject, that which is representative of it is meant by 'holy' and 'being sanctified'. The reason for this is that among the Israelite and Jewish nation all things were representative of the inner realities of the Church, which are matters of faith and love received from and offered back to the Lord. For the Church established among that nation was a representative Church.

[2] This being so, all outward objects served to mean and represent such things as the internal sense teaches about; and it is on account of this that those objects were called holy, such as the altar, fire on it, burnt offering, fat, and blood; the tent of meeting, the table there on which the loaves of the presence were placed, table of incense, lampstand, and all their vessels; in particular the ark with the Testimony in it; and in addition the loaves, cakes, and wafers - which were called minchahs - oil, and frankincense; as well as Aaron's garments, such as the ephod, robe, tunic, turban, and in particular the breastplate. Aaron himself was called holy, and so too were the children of Israel. But none of those objects or people were holy, other than for the reason that they served to represent and so to mean holy things, that is, Divine things which come from the Lord; for these alone are holy.

[3] People who do not look beyond outward forms to inward realities suppose that such objects were holy not by virtue of what they represented but because they were intrinsically holy after they had been dedicated. But those people are completely mistaken. If they venerate those objects as being intrinsically holy, they venerate earthly things, and are not far off being like those who venerate pieces of stone or wood, as idolaters do. But people who venerate the realities that are represented or meant, that is, holy and Divine things, are the ones who engage in true worship; for to them outward objects are merely mediate causes ¹ enabling them to think about and desire such realities as constitute the essentials of the Church, which, as has been stated above, are matters of faith and love received from and offered back to the Lord.

[4] The situation is similar at the present day with the Holy Supper. When those attending do not think, as a consequence of their belief, about the Lord and His love towards the human race, and about renewal of life in keeping with His commandments, they venerate simply the bread and wine there, and not the Lord. They think that the outward objects of bread and wine are holy; but they are holy not in themselves, only by virtue of what they are the signs of. For the bread there is a sign of the Lord in respect of the good of love, and the wine a sign of the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, and at the same time of a person's reception of Him, those two entities being the essential elements of the Church, thus the essential elements of worship, see 4211, 4217, 4735, 6135, 6789, 7850, 8682, 9003, 9127, 10040.

From all this it may now be seen what 'holy' and 'being sanctified' mean in the Word.

फुटनोट: