113. Nothing is more common in the Word than for the good that belongs to wisdom or else to love to be meant and represented by 'gold'. All the gold of the Ark, the Temple, the golden table, ¹ the lampstands, the vessels, and on Aaron's vestments, meant and represented good that belongs to wisdom or else to love. Similarly in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel,

In your wisdom and in your intelligence have made wealth for yourself, and you have made gold and silver in your treasures. Ezekiel 28:4.

Here it is plainly stated that gold and silver, or good and truth, are the products of wisdom and intelligence, for 'silver' here means truth, as also does the silver of the Tabernacle ² and the Temple. In Isaiah,

A multitude of camels will cover you, dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all those from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the praises of Jehovah. Isaiah 60:6.

So too the wise men from the east who came to Jesus after His birth,

And they fell down and worshipped Him, and they opened their treasures, and offered Him gifts - gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:1, 11.

Here also 'gold' means good, 'frankincense and myrrh' those things that are pleasing, because they derive from love and faith, and are consequently called 'the praises of Jehovah'. 'Gold' is for the same reason mentioned in David,

He will live, and He will give to him from the gold of Sheba, and will pray for him continually, and bless him every day. Psalms 72:15.

V:

6179. 'Put now your hand under my thigh' means a sacred bond. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting a hand under the thigh' as a bond established through what is connected with conjugial love, by all one's power, for 'hand' means power, 878, 3091, 4931-4937, 5728, 5544, and 'thigh' what is connected with conjugial love, dealt with in 3021, 4277, 4280, 4575, 5050, 5062. The conjugial relationship in the supreme sense is the union within the Lord of the Divine and the Divine Human. From this it is the union of Divine Good and Divine Truth in heaven, for what goes forth from the Lord is Divine Truth from Divine Good. This is why heaven is heaven and is called a marriage, for the existence there of goodness and truth joined together, which go forth from the Lord, is what makes heaven. Also, since the Lord is the good there, and heaven is the truth from it, the Lord is in the Word called 'the bridegroom', while heaven and also the Church is called 'the bride'. For goodness and truth constitute a marriage, and the existence of the two joined together is meant by the conjugial relationship. From this one may see how sacred it to be bound by what is of a conjugial nature, meant by 'putting a hand under the thigh'. From that marriage, the marriage of goodness and truth, genuine conjugial love comes down, regarding which love and its holiness, see 2727-2759.