9532. 'And you shall overlay it with [pure] gold' means a representative sign of that good out of mercy. This is clear from the meaning of 'overlaying with gold' as a representative sign of good; for 'gold' means the good of love, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, and therefore that good was represented by the gold where it was applied as a gilding. The reason why it is out of mercy is that all the good of love arises out of mercy, which too is meant by the shittim wood that was overlaid with gold, 9528.

6915. 'And so it will be when you go, that you will not go empty-handed' means a life no more destitute so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'going' as leading a life, dealt with in 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 6904; and from the meaning of 'you will not go empty-handed' as a life no more destitute, 'empty' meaning where there is no truth, see 4744, thus where there is spiritual destitution. The fact that it is destitution so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned is evident from what has gone before, where it describes how those who belonged to the spiritual Church, represented by 'the children of Israel', were molested by those in possession of false factual knowledge, meant by 'the Egyptians.' It was therefore molestation so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned, since what is contained in the natural mind is called factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is also what above all molests those who are spiritual, for their thinking takes place within factual knowledge and little at all on a level above it, see 6865.