The Bible

 

Exodus 27

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1 And thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth; the altar shall be square; and the height thereof three cubits.

2 And thou shalt make its horns at the four corners thereof; its horns shall be of itself; and thou shalt overlay it with copper.

3 And thou shalt make its pots to cleanse it of the fat, its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its firepans; for all the utensils thereof thou shalt employ copper.

4 And thou shalt make for it a grating of network of copper; and on the net shalt thou make four copper rings at its four corners;

5 and thou shalt put it under the ledge of the altar beneath, and the net shall be to the very middle of the altar.

6 And thou shalt make staves for the altar, staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with copper.

7 And its staves shall be put into the rings, that the staves may be on both sides of the altar, when it is carried.

8 Hollow with boards shalt thou make it: as it hath been shewn thee on the mountain, so shall they make [it].

9 And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side, southward, hangings for the court of twined byssus; a hundred cubits the length for the one side,

10 and the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty bases of copper, the hooks of the pillars and their connecting-rods of silver.

11 And likewise on the north side in length, hangings a hundred [cubits] long, and its twenty pillars, and their twenty bases of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their connecting-rods of silver.

12 -- And the breadth of the court on the west side, hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their bases ten.

13 -- And the breadth of the court on the east side, eastward, fifty cubits;

14 the hangings on the one wing, of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their bases three.

15 And on the other wing hangings of fifteen [cubits]; their pillars three, and their bases three.

16 -- And for the gate of the court a curtain of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus, embroidered with needlework; their pillars four, and their bases four.

17 All the pillars of the court round about shall be fastened together with [rods of] silver; their hooks of silver, and their bases of copper.

18 The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of twined byssus; and their bases of copper.

19 All the utensils of the tabernacle for the service thereof and all the pegs thereof, and all the pegs of the court shall be of copper.

20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee olive oil, pure, beaten, for the light, to light the lamp continually.

21 In the tent of meeting outside the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall dress them from evening to morning before Jehovah: [it is] an everlasting statute, for their generations, on the part of the children of Israel.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #390

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390. (Verse 9) And when he had opened the fifth seal. That this signifies prediction still further, is plain from the signification of opening a seal of a book, as denoting to reveal things hidden, and to predict future things (concerning which see above, n. 352, 361, 369, 378).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10438

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10438. 'For evil He led them out, to kill them in the mountains' means that those with whom good exists will be destroyed. This is clear from the meaning of 'leading out to kill' as destroying, though when such words are used in reference to Jehovah, who never destroys anyone, being destroyed by their own evil is meant; and from the meaning of 'the mountains' as heaven, consequently the good of love. The origin of the meaning of 'the mountains' as heaven lies in representatives in the next life. Mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and many more objects appear there, as on earth; and on the mountains there are those who abide in celestial love, on the hills those who abide in spiritual love, on the rocks those who abide in faith, and in the valleys those who have not as yet been raised up to the good of love and faith.

[2] Consequently by 'mountains' those in whom the good of celestial love exists, and so who inhabit the inmost heaven, are meant, and in the abstract sense forms of the good of celestial love, and so the heaven which abides in that love; by 'hills' those in whom the good of spiritual love exists, and so who inhabit the middle heaven, are meant, and in the abstract sense the good of that love and the heaven which abides in it; by 'rocks' those in whom the good of faith exists, and who consequently inhabit the lowest heaven, are meant, and in the abstract sense that good and that heaven; and by 'valleys' those who have not as yet been raised up to those kinds of good and so to heaven are meant. Because such objects appear in the next life and such realities are consequently meant by them, those objects have a like meaning in the Word, as do the mountains, hills, rocks, and valleys in the land of Canaan, by which heaven in its entirety was therefore represented.

[3] The fact that the heaven where the good of celestial love exists is meant by 'mountains' is evident from a large number of places in the Word, such as the following: In Isaiah,

In the latter days it will be, that the mountain of Jehovah will be on the top of the mountains, and raised above the hills. Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1.

In David,

The mountains will bring peace, and the hills, in righteousness. Psalms 72:3.

In the same author,

Praise Jehovah, mountains and all hills. Psalms 148:7, 9.

In the same author,

A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of hills is the mountain of Bashan. Why do you leap up, O mountains, hills of mountains? God desires to inhabit it; yes, Jehovah will inhabit it perpetually. Psalms 68:15-16.

In Moses,

... in regard to the firstfruits of the mountains of the east, and to the precious things of the everlasting hills 1 ... Let them come upon the head of Joseph. Deuteronomy 33:15-16.

Other places besides these contain the same meaning, see 795, 6435, 8327, 8658, 8758, 9422, 9434. All this explains why the Lord came down onto Mount Sinai; why the city of David was built on a mountain, and that mountain, which was called Mount Zion, means the inmost heaven; and also why the ancients performed holy acts of worship on mountains and hills, 2722.

Footnotes:

1. literally, the hills of the age

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.