9674. 'And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood]' means the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, linking them together and providing support. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as a joining or linking together, dealt with in 1686, 8877 ('four' means a joining together because this number is the product of two multiplied by itself, and multiple numbers have the same meaning as the simple ones that produce them, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973, 'two' meaning a joining together, see 5194, 8423); from the meaning of 'pillars' as support, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, dealt with in 9472, 9486, this good being the one and only good that reigns in heaven, see 9486, and so also that lends support to heaven. Support is meant by 'the pillars' because these supported the veil, just as the boards also made from shittim wood supported the curtains of the dwelling-place, 9634.

[2] 'Pillars' in the spiritual sense means those things that support heaven and the Church, which are forms of the good of love and forms of the good of faith from the Lord. These forms of good are meant by 'pillars' in David,

I will judge uprightly. ¹ The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolving; I will set its pillars firm. Psalms 75:2-3.

In Job,

God shakes the earth out of its place, to the extent that its pillars tremble. Job 9:6.

'The pillars of the earth' stands for the forms of good and the truths that support the Church; for 'the earth' in the Word is the Church, 9325. Plainly they are not pillars supporting this planet that are going to tremble. In John,

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go outside any more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Revelation 3:12.

'A pillar in the temple' stands for the Church's forms of good and its truths, which are also 'the name of God' and 'the name of the city, new Jerusalem'. 'The name of God' is everything good and true in the Church, or everything in its entirety through which the Lord is worshipped, see 2724, 3006, 6674, 9310.

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9486. 'Of shittim wood' means righteousness. This is clear from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit which is the Lord's alone, dealt with above in 9472, and therefore also righteousness, which is the good of merit. For by His own power the Lord restored the whole of heaven to order and subdued the hells, and at the same time made Divine the Human within Himself; therefore to Him belong merit and righteousness. For this reason the one and only good that reigns in heaven and that makes heaven is the Lord's good of merit and His righteousness, thus His Divine Human since This was made merit and righteousness. The fact that the Lord accomplished these things by His own power is clear in Isaiah,

Who is this who comes from Edom? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples not a man (vir) was with Me. I looked around, but there was no helper, and I wondered, but there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me. Isaiah 63:1-5.

In the same prophet,

He saw that there was no man (vir), and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness lifted Him up. He put on righteousness as a breastplate. Isaiah 59:16-17.

[2] In Jeremiah,

This is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6; 33:15-16.

And in John,

I lay down My life, ¹ so that I may receive it again. No one takes it from Me, I lay it down of Myself; I have power to lay it down and I have power to receive it again. John 10:17-18.

From these places it is evident that the Lord in His Divine Human possesses merit and righteousness acquired by Himself. Since 'the ark' means heaven where the Lord is, shittim wood, by which that good is meant, was used in the making of it; for 'wood' in general means good, 643, 3720, 8354. This explains why people who assume that merit lies in works are seen in the next life to be cutting wood, under which there is something of the Lord, 1110, 4943, 8740. And so it is that 'splitting pieces of wood for a burnt offering' means the good of merit, or good belonging to works, 2784, 2812.

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