10196. 'Before the mercy-seat which is above the Testimony' means where the Lord hears and receives everything of worship arising from the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the hearing and reception by the Lord of everything of worship arising from the good of love, dealt with in 9506; and from the meaning of 'the Testimony' as the Lord in respect of the Word, dealt with in 8535, 9503, thus of Divine Truth since the Lord in respect of Divine Truth is the Word, 9987.

[2] A brief statement about Divine Good and Divine Truth needs to be made here. As to His Divine [Being] itself, called the Father, and His Divine Humanity, called the Son, the Lord is Divine Love itself, and is accordingly Divine Good itself. But as to His presence in heaven, which is beneath the Lord as the Sun, He is Divine Truth. Yet this Divine Truth has Divine Good within it, adjusted to its reception by angels and spirits. This Divine presence is what is called the Spirit of Jehovah and that which is Holy. The reason why it is spoken of as Divine Truth and not Divine Good is that angels and spirits are created beings and therefore are recipients of Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good. Like people in the world they enjoy two powers of mind - the understanding and the will. The understanding has been formed to receive Divine Truth and the will to receive Divine Good; and their understanding serves not only to receive [that Truth] but also to perceive [this Good].

[3] Simple people may gain some idea of this matter if it is compared with the sun and the world that comes into being from it. The sun is composed of fire, but what radiates from it is heat and light. As anyone may know, there is no light within the sun itself, but light radiates from it. And in the measure that light radiating from the sun holds heat within itself plants come to life and grow, producing fruit and seeds. These things have been mentioned by way of comparison because the whole natural order is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom; and it is a representative theatre because the natural world has been brought into being by the Divine - and is unceasingly brought into being, that is, is held in being, by Him - by means of the spiritual world. So it is that in the Word 'the sun', similarly 'fire', is used to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Love, and 'light' to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, as in John 1:9; 3:19; 9:5; 12:46.

8535. 'So Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept' means that it was in the presence of the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'laying up to be kept' as to preserve the memory of it, as above in 8526 (end), 8533; and from the meaning of 'before the Testimony' as in the presence of the Divine. The fact that 'the Testimony' means the Divine is evident from what comes before, where Moses tells Aaron to lay it up before Jehovah, 8532, that is, before the Divine. The reason why 'the Testimony' means the Divine is that in the universal sense 'the Testimony' is used to mean the Word, and the Word is Divine truth, thus the Lord. That He is the Word is evident in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:1, 14

The fact that 'the Testimony' is the Lord in respect of Divine Truth is clear from the ark containing the law delivered from Sinai, which is called the Testimony. From it the tabernacle derived all the holiness it possessed, and the Testimony was God's holiness itself. This is evident from the consideration that above it there was the Mercy Seat with the cherubim; immediately outside the veil there, there stood the tables of gold with the loaves and the lamps; Aaron performed the holiest act of worship there and also Jehovah afterwards spoke to Moses there, above the Mercy Seat between the two cherubs, thus from the Testimony. For these details, see Exodus 22:16, 21, 22; 40:20.