9543. 'And the table shall be carried with them' means being thereby held firmly in being. This is clear from the meaning of 'being carried' as being brought into being and kept in being, dealt with above in 9540, thus also being held firmly in being; and from the meaning of 'the table' as the receptacle of heavenly blessings, dealt with in 9527. All this serves to describe the manner in which the inmost or third heaven receives good from the Lord; for the loaves of the Presence are heavenly good that comes from the Lord, and the table on which the loaves were laid is the receptacle of that good. But I am not allowed to present a detailed description of the nature of this reality, because the majority of the things that exist in the Lord's celestial kingdom lie beyond the range of human thought and almost beyond that of the angelic spirits who live in the lowest heaven. For everything in the Lord's celestial kingdom is founded on the good that belongs to love, and not on the truth that belongs to faith. The fact that those there also communicate with one another through forms of the good of love, and not through the truths of faith as those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom do, see the places referred to in 9277.

[2] The Lord's celestial kingdom is the inmost or third heaven, and within it there exist realities beyond comprehension or description, that is, things which have never entered anyone's mind, and which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, as everyone knows. For this reason those realities existing in that heaven are brought before the eyes of spirits below by means of objects that represent them, and from these representatives they form some idea of the incomprehensible and indescribable realities that exist there. The same realities were represented in the world by the ark, mercy-seat, cherubs, table on which the loaves of the Presence were laid, and the lampstand; and these objects serve to present visually all the realities in that kingdom. In like manner the dwelling-place and court of the tent, also the curtains and veils there, served to represent the realities existing in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, which is the second or middle heaven.

3079. 'And her pitcher was on her shoulder' means vessels that receive truth, and a total effort to uphold that truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a pitcher' as factual knowledge, and so a receptacle of truth, dealt with in 3068, and from the meaning of 'shoulder' as all power, and so total effort, dealt with in 1085. 'Pitchers' or water-pots, and also vessels generally, mean in the internal sense things that serve in the place of a receptacle, as facts and cognitions do in relation to truths, and as truths themselves do in relation to good. This becomes clear from many places in the Word. The temple and the altar vessels had no other meaning, and having that meaning they were also sacred. For no other reason were they sacred. That was why - when Belshazzar, along with his nobles and his wives, drank wine out of the vessels of gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the Temple in Jerusalem, and they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone - writing appeared on the wall of his palace, Daniel 5:2 and following verses. 'The vessels of gold and silver' stands for cognitions of good and truth which were rendered profane; for 'the Chaldeans' means those who possess cognitions but have rendered them profane through the falsities within those cognitions, 1368, so that cognitions serve them for worshipping 'the gods of gold and silver' (Belshazzar being called 'king of the Chaldeans' in verse 30 of that same chapter).

[2] That 'vessels' means the external containers of spiritual things is also evident from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Even as the children of Israel bring their gift in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. Isaiah 66:20.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. 'A gift in a clean vessel' is a representative of the external man in relation to the internal. The one who brings the gift is the internal man, 'the clean vessel' a compatible external man, and so the things present in the external man, which are facts, cognitions, and matters of doctrine. In Jeremiah,

The cry of Jerusalem went up, and the nobles sent their inferiors to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no water, they returned with their vessels empty, they were ashamed. Jeremiah 14:2-3.

'Empty vessels' stands for cognitions with no truth in them, and also truths with no good in them. In the same prophet,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel has devoured me, he has troubled me, he has made me an empty vessel. Jeremiah 51:34.

'An empty vessel' stands in like manner for empty cognitions - 'Babel' being one who lays waste, see 1327 (end). In Moses,

Like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river. Waters will flow from buckets, and his seed will be towards many waters. Numbers 24:6-7.

These verses belong to Balaam's oracle concerning Jacob and Israel. 'Waters will flow from buckets' stands for truths flowing from cognitions. In the parable about the ten virgins it is said that five of them took oil in their vessels together with their lamps, but that the foolish did not, Matthew 25:4. 'Virgins' means affections; 'the wise took oil in their vessels' means that they took good within truths, and so charity within faith. 'Oil' is good, see 886; 'lamps' stands for love.