9741. 'And you shall make the court of the dwelling-place' means the lowest heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the court of the dwelling-place' as the external part of heaven, thus the lowest heaven; for there are three heavens, the inmost, the middle, and the lowest. The inmost was represented by the inmost part of the dwelling-place, where the ark of the Testimony was; the middle one by the dwelling-place outside the veil; and the lowest by the court, which is the subject now. This heaven is called the court because they who are there are those who are governed by the good of faith and not as yet by the good of charity towards the neighbour - they who are governed by the good of charity being those who are in the middle heaven. Those in the lowest heaven, which is called the court, are called angelic spirits; those in the middle heaven are called spiritual angels; but those in the inmost heaven are called celestial angels.

[2] The good of faith itself too, which is the good of the lowest heaven, is meant by 'the court', because it is through this good that a person is led on into the good of charity towards the neighbour, which is the good of the middle heaven. It should be remembered that the good present with a person constitutes his heaven and that the kind of heaven that is his is determined by the kind of good that is his. There are three kinds of good that follow one another in order - the good of faith, the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the good of love to the Lord. The good of faith constitutes the lowest or first heaven, as stated above; the good of charity towards the neighbour constitutes the middle or second heaven; and the good of love to the Lord constitutes the inmost or third heaven.

[3] A little more needs to be said to give people an even better knowledge of the arrangement of the heavens. The heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom; and in each kingdom there is an internal part and an external. The internal part of the celestial kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of love to the Lord, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of mutual love; but the internal part of the spiritual kingdom is inhabited by those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour, and the external part of it by those who are governed by the good of faith, see 9680. The external part of each kingdom ¹ is what is called the lowest or first heaven and was represented by the court. This explains why there were two courts around the temple, an outer and an inner, the outer court standing for those who inhabit the external parts of the spiritual kingdom and the inner court for those inhabiting the external parts of the celestial kingdom.

[4] Regarding these two courts of the temple in Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 6:3, 36; 2 Kings 21:5. Regarding the outer court of the new temple in Ezekiel, see Ezekiel 40:17, 31, 34; Ezekiel 42:1-end; and regarding the inner court there, Ezekiel 40:23, 28, 32, 44; 42:3; 43:5. From all this it is evident that the lowest heaven which was represented by the outer court of the temple is composed of the good of faith, and the lowest heaven which was represented by the inner court is composed of the good of mutual love. Those governed by the good of mutual love are governed by an affection for good for goodness' sake, whereas those governed by the good of faith are governed by an affection for truth for truth's sake. For good has dominion in the celestial kingdom, whereas truth has it in the spiritual kingdom.

[5] The fact that the lowest heaven is meant by 'the courts' is evident from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

The glory of Jehovah rose ² from above the cherub over the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud; and the cloud filled the inner court. ³ And the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, and the sound of the wings of the cherubs was heard as far as the outer court. Ezekiel 10:3-5.

The court was representative of the lowest heaven, and that was why it was filled, as was the house itself, with the cloud and the brightness of the glory of Jehovah, for 'the cloud' and 'the glory' mean Divine Truth. As regards 'the cloud', that it has this meaning, see 5922, 6343 (end), 6752, 8106, 8443, and also 'the glory', 8267, 8427, 9429. 'The sound of the wings' means the truth of faith derived from good, 8764, 9514.

[6]In the same prophet,

The spirit lifted me up and led me into the inner court of the temple; and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And I heard Him speaking to me from the house, saying, Son of man, [this is] the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. Ezekiel 43:4-7.

Here the temple and the court are called 'the place of Jehovah's throne, and the place of the soles of His feet' because the temple and the court represented heaven, 'Jehovah's throne' being the spiritual heaven, 5313, 8625, 'the place of the soles of His feet' the lowest heaven.

[7] The lowest heaven is also meant by 'court' and 'courts' in the following places: In David,

Blessed is [anyone] whom You choose and cause to come near; he will dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, with the holiness of Your temple. Psalms 65:4.

'Dwelling in those courts', as is self-evident, means dwelling in heaven. In the same author,

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of My God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10.

In the same author,

Planted in the house of Jehovah, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Psalms 92:13.

In the same author,

Give to Jehovah the glory of His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Psalms 96:8.

In the same author,

Praise the name of Jehovah, praise [Him], O servants of Jehovah who are standing in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house of our God. Psalms 135:1-2.

In Isaiah,

They will collect the grain and new wine, they will eat [it] and praise Jehovah; and those who will have gathered it together will drink [it] in the courts of My holiness. Isaiah 62:9.

In these places 'courts' stands for the lowest heavens; for the more internal heavens are called Jehovah's house and His temple, 3720.

[8] In John,

The angel said, Rise and measure the temple and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, ⁴ who will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Revelation 11:1-2.

'The temple and the altar, and those who worship in it' are the Church and its worship. 'The court outside the temple' is the good of mutual love, as stated above. 'The nations to whom the holy city has been given to trample' are the evils of self-love and love of the world, which destroy the Church, 6306. 'Forty-two months' is similar in meaning to six weeks, and 'six weeks' is similar in meaning to six days of a week; for six multiplied by seven makes forty-two. A week means a whole period, long or short, 2044, 3845; the six days which come before the seventh or sabbath mean a former Church through to its end, and the establishment of a new Church. For 'the sabbath' means goodness and truth joined together, and so means the Church, 8495, 8510, 8890, 8893, 9274.

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1607. That 'for all the land which you see I will give to you' means the heavenly kingdom which was to be the Lord's is clear from the meaning of 'land' - the land of Canaan in this context since the words used are 'the land which you see' - as the heavenly kingdom. Indeed the land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, which is heaven, and also the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. This meaning of 'land' has been discussed frequently already. That the kingdom in heaven and on earth was given to the Lord is clear from various places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

A Boy is born, a Son is given to us; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.

In Daniel,

I saw in the night visions, and behold with the clouds of the heavens One like the Son of Man was coming, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is an eternal dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Daniel 7:13-14.

The Lord Himself also says the same: in Matthew,

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22.

Elsewhere in Matthew,

[All] power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matthew 28:18.

In John,

You have given to the Son power over all flesh in order that all You have given Him, to them He may give eternal life. John 17:2-3.

And 'sitting on the right hand' has the same meaning, as in Luke,

From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Luke 22:69.

[2] As regards all power in heaven and on earth being given to the Son of Man, it should be recognized that the Lord already had power over all things in heaven and on earth before He came into the world, for He was God from eternity and He was Jehovah, as He Himself plainly declares in John,

Now, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5.

And in the same gospel,

Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. ¹ John 8:58.

In fact He was Jehovah and God to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, and was seen by them. He was also Jehovah and God to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood; and He was the One whom all the religious observances of the Jewish Church represented, and the One they worshipped. The reason the Lord says that all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, as though it had not been His till then, is that 'the Son of Man' is used to mean His Human Essence which became Jehovah as well after it had been united to His Divine Essence. Power was given to Him at that point, which would not have been possible until He was glorified, that is, until His Human Essence as well, through union with the Divine Essence, had life in Itself and likewise became Divine and Jehovah, as He Himself declares in John,

As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. John 5:26.

[3] It is His Human Essence or External Man that is named 'the Son of Man' in the passage quoted from Daniel, and 'a Boy born, a Son given to us' in the passage quoted from Isaiah. The fact that the heavenly kingdom would be given to Him, and all power in heaven and on earth, was shown and promised to Him then, and is the meaning of the statement 'all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed after you for ever'. This was before His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence, a union which took place when He had overcome the devil and hell, that is to say, when by His own strength and powers He had cast out all evil, which alone causes the severance.

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