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Exodus 25

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1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver and brass,

4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair.

5 And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood.

6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breast-plate.

8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all its instruments, even so shall ye make it.

10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its hight.

11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold around it.

12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

13 And thou shalt make staffs of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

14 And thou shalt put the staffs into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

15 The staffs shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

17 And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

18 And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat.

19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on its two ends.

20 And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; towards the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

21 And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment to the children of Israel.

23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: its length shall be two cubits, and its breadth a cubit, and its hight a cubit and a half.

24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make to it a crown of gold around it.

25 And thou shalt make to it a border of an hand-breadth around it, and thou shalt make a golden crown to its border around it.

26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet.

27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staffs to bear the table.

28 And thou shalt make the staffs of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

29 And thou shalt make its dishes, and its spoons, and its covers, and its bowls, to cover it with: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

30 And thou shalt set upon the table show-bread before me always.

31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: its shaft, and its branches, its bowls, its knobs, and its flowers, shall be of the same.

32 And six branches shall extend from the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick from the one side, and three branches of the candlestick from the other side:

33 Three bowls made like to almonds, with a knob and a flower in one branch; and Three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knob and a flower: so in the six branches that project from the candlestick.

34 And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like to almonds, with their knobs and their flowers.

35 And there shall be a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that project from the candlestick.

36 Their knobs and their branches shall be of the same: all of it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

37 And thou shalt make its seven lamps: and they shall light its lamps, that they may give light over against it.

38 And its tongs, and its snuff-dishes, shall be of pure gold.

39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee on the mount.

   

Dalle opere di Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9500

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9500. 'To carry the ark on them' means thereby holding heaven firmly in being and keeping it in being. This is clear from the meaning of 'carrying' as holding in a state of goodness and truth, thus bringing it into being and keeping it in being, for 'the poles in the rings' means the power of the Divine sphere, or power of Divine Truth joined to Divine Good, 9498, thus bringing into being and keeping in being, since heaven is kept in being by that power; and from the meaning of 'the ark' as heaven, dealt with in 9485.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

Dalle opere di Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9485

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9485. 'And they are to make an ark' means the inmost heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'an ark' as the inmost heaven; for 'the Testimony' or 'the Law' in the ark means the Lord, the reason for this being that 'the Testimony' is Divine Truth, and Divine Truth is the Lord in heaven, see below in 9503. So this then is why 'an ark' means the inmost heaven. The ark was therefore a most holy object, and it was worshipped by the people as Jehovah since Jehovah was thought to dwell there, between the cherubs, as is clear in David,

We heard [of Him] in Ephrathah. We will enter His dwelling-place, we will bow down at His footstool. Arise, O Jehovah, to Your resting-place, You and the ark of Your strength. Psalms 132:6-8.

This refers to the Lord, Ephrathah being Bethlehem, where the Lord was born, Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6. 'Dwelling-place' means heaven where the Lord is; and 'You and the ark of Your strength' means the Lord and a representative of Him.

[2] The fact that the ark is a representative of the Lord is evident in Jeremiah,

I will bring you back to Zion. In those days they will say no more The ark of the covenant; neither will it come to mind, 1 nor will they make mention of it, nor will they desire it, nor will it be restored any more. At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations will be gathered to it, because of Jehovah's name, to Jerusalem. Jeremiah 3:14, 16-17.

This refers to a new Church. The representative of the former Church, which representative is to be done away with at that time, is meant by 'the ark', which will not be spoken of any more, come to mind, or be restored - 'Jerusalem', to which the nations will be gathered, being that new Church. From this it evident that 'the ark' means a representative of the Lord and the worship of Him in the Church, in the same way as 'the continual [sacrifice]' and 'the dwelling-place of [His] sanctuary' do in Daniel 8:11.

[3] The fact that the ark was worshipped as Jehovah by the Israelite and Jewish people and the fact that He was thought to dwell there, between the cherubs, is evident in the second Book of Samuel,

David caused the ark of God to go up, [the ark] on which His name is invoked - the name of Jehovah Zebaoth, who sits above it on the cherubs. 2 Samuel 6:2.

And in Moses,

Whenever the ark travelled Moses said, Arise, O Jehovah, let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before Your face. Whenever it came to rest he said, Return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel. Numbers 10:33-36.

The reason why the inmost heaven was meant by 'the ark' was that all the tabernacle or tent represented the whole angelic heaven, the lowest part of it being represented by the court, the middle part of it by the dwelling-place where the priest ministered, and the inmost by the dwelling-place inside the veil where the ark containing the Testimony was.

Note a piè di pagina:

1. literally, nor will it come up onto the heart

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.