288. Since heaven's peace is a divine blessedness that profoundly affects the essential good within angels, it does not come to their open perception except through a heartfelt delight when they are involved in the good of their life, a pleasure when they hear something true that is in accord with their good, and a gaiety of mind when they perceive the union of the two. Still, it does flow into all the acts and thoughts of their life and makes itself known as joy, even in outward form.

[2] Peace varies in quality and quantity in the heavens, though, in proportion to the innocence of the people in any given location, because innocence and peace walk hand in hand. For as already noted, innocence is the source of everything good in heaven and peace is the source of all the joy of that good. We may conclude, then, that we can say much the same about the state of peace as has already been said about the state of innocence in the preceding chapter, since innocence and peace are united the way anything good and its delight are. Whatever is good is in fact sensed by its delight, and whatever is delightful is recognized by virtue of its goodness. This being the case, we can see that angels of the inmost or third heaven are in the third or inmost level of peace because they are in the third or inmost level of innocence, and that angels of the lower heavens are in lesser levels of peace because they are in lesser levels of innocence (see above, 280).

[3] If we look at little children, we can see that innocence and peace occur together in the same way that anything good and its delight do. Because they are in innocence, they are at peace as well; and because they are at peace, everything associated with them has a playful quality. However, their peace is an outward peace. Inner peace, like inner innocence, is found only in wisdom; and since it does dwell in wisdom, it is found in the union of the good and the true, since this is the origin of wisdom.

Heavenly or angelic peace occurs in us when we are attuned to wisdom because of the union of the good and the true and therefore see ourselves as contented in God. However, as long as we are living in this world, that peace lies hidden in our depths. Still, it is unveiled when we leave our bodies behind and enter heaven, because then those depths are opened.

8623. 'And Moses built an altar' means for the holiness of worship and of remembrance. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as the chief representative of the Lord, dealt with in 2777, 2811, 4489, and consequently the holiness of worship, 4541. The reason why it is also for remembrance is that in ancient times heaps were erected to serve as a witness and memorial that something was to stand firm and be remembered; and later on altars were erected too, 4192. Moses' altar was built for the remembrance of something, which was that because Amalek's hand was against the throne of Jah the war of Jehovah would be against him from generation to generation. The fact that altars too were erected to serve as a witness and memorial is clear from the altar which the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh built by the Jordan. They told the children of Israel who wished to go to war against them that they had built it to be a witness to the fact that they were to worship Jehovah, not with burnt offerings and sacrifices on that altar but on the altar before the tabernacle. ¹ Therefore they called the former,

A witness between us and you that Jehovah is God. Joshua 22:10-34.

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