9955. 'And fill their hand' means a representative sign of the Lord in respect of the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'filling the hand' of Aaron and his sons as consecrating to serve as a representative sign of the Lord in respect of Divine Truth that constitutes faith. For 'the hand' means the power that truth from good possesses, and therefore the hand is spoken of in reference to truth, see 3091, 3387, 4931-4937, 7518, 8281, 9025. Consequently, then, just as anointing served to represent the Lord in respect of Divine Good, so the filling of hands represented the Lord in respect of Divine Truth. For everything throughout creation has connection with goodness or truth, or both if it is to have any real existence. In the Word therefore wherever the subject has to do with good, it has to do also with truth, see the places referred to in 9263, 9314. In what way the filling of hands was carried out is described in the next chapter; therefore what needs to be said about it will in the Lord's Divine mercy appear there.

1047. That 'and when I cloud over the earth with cloud' means a time when, the will part of man's proprium being what it is, faith that flows from charity does not appear, is clear from what has been stated just above regarding 'the earth', that is, about the will part of man's proprium being such that it is constantly introducing obscurity, or falsity, into the understanding part. This is 'a clouding over'. All falsity originates in this way, as becomes quite clear from the fact that self-love and love of the world which belong to man's will are nothing else than hatred. For insofar as anyone loves himself he hates the neighbour. Because these loves are so contrary to heavenly love, it is inevitable that such things as are contrary to mutual love should be constantly flowing in from them. All of those things in the understanding part are falsities, and from them arises all the obscurity and darkness that is there. Falsity 'clouds over truth just as a dark cloud does to the light of the sun. And because falsity and truth cannot be present simultaneously any more than darkness and light, it follows plainly that one goes out as the other comes in. And this being an alternating occurrence reference is therefore made here to 'clouding over the earth with cloud', that is, a time when through the will part of the proprium no faith accompanying charity, or truth and derivative good, appears, still less good and derivative truth.