8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9832. 'And they shall take the gold' means the good reigning universally. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490, 9510. Its reigning universally is meant by the fact that the gold was interwoven everywhere in the ephod, as is clear from what is stated later on in this book,

They beat out ¹ the plates of gold and cut them up into threads, to work in among the violet, and in among the purple, and in among the twice-dyed scarlet, and in among the fine linen. Exodus 39:3.

'Reigning universally' describes that which is dominant and so is present in each individual part, see 5949, 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853-8858, 8865. The reason why the gold was interwoven everywhere was that Aaron's garments represented the spiritual heaven, 9814, and in that heaven good holds sway, as it also does in the remaining heavens. In the inmost heaven it is the good of love to the Lord, in the middle one the good of charity towards the neighbour, and in the lowest the good of faith. The truth however which belongs to faith leads the way to good, and afterwards is brought forth from it. From this it is evident that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him. If merely the knowledge of truths, called the truths of faith, is present in a person he does no more than stand in front of the door; or if, knowing those truths, he is looking towards good he goes through into the porch. But if, in knowing those truths, he is not looking towards good he cannot see heaven, not even from a long way off. The reason for saying that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him is that a person must have heaven within him while in the world if he is to enter it after death. For heaven exists within people; and it is granted in mercy to those who during their life in the world allow themselves to be led by means of the truths of faith into charity towards the neighbour and into love to the Lord, that is, into good. People are not in heaven until they have come into that state in which the Lord leads them by means of good, see 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139. By good is meant the good of life; and the good of life consists in the performance of what is good because there is a will for what is good, and a will for what is good springs from love; for what a person loves, he wills.

각주:

8539. 'They ate the man[na] until they came to the border of the land of Canaan' means that they went on making good from truth their own, until they reached the region of heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the man[na]' as the good of truth; from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, as just above in 8537; and from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as heaven, as above in 8538, so that 'the border of the land of Canaan' is the entrance to heaven, or the region where heaven begins. From all these meanings it is evident that 'they ate the man[na] until they came to the border of the land of Canaan' means that they were making the good of truth their own until they reached the region of heaven.

[2] The nature of all this is evident from what has been stated already about the acquisition of good through truth. It has been stated that before regeneration all good is obtained by means of truth, but that after regeneration a person is led by the Lord by means of good; also that the former state is meant by the six days which come before the seventh, and that the latter state is meant by the seventh day or the sabbath. From this it is also evident that the former state was represented by the travels of the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years, and that the latter state was represented by their being led into the land of Canaan. For the situation is this: A person is outside heaven all the time that his actions spring from truth and not from good. But then he enters heaven when they do spring from good; for they now spring from the Lord and are in keeping with the order of heaven. He does not attain this order, nor does he therefore enter heaven where order exists and which is order until he has been prepared, which happens when he is brought to good by means of truth. Regarding these two states, see what has been shown above in 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516.