9392. Verses 6-8. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it into basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the ears of the people; and they said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that Jehovah hath made with you upon all these words. “And Moses took half of the blood,” signifies Divine truth that has been made of the life and of worship; “and put it into basins,” signifies with man in the things of his memory; “and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar,” signifies Divine truth from the Divine Human of the Lord; “and he took the book of the covenant,” signifies the Word in the letter with which the Word in heaven has been conjoined; “and read it in the ears of the people,” signifies for hearkening and obedience; “and they said, All things that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear,” signifies the reception of the truth that proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord, and obedience from the heart and soul; “and Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people,” signifies adaptation to the reception of man; “and said, Behold the blood of the covenant,” signifies thereby the conjunction of the Lord in respect to the Divine Human with heaven and with earth; “that Jehovah hath made with you upon all these words,” signifies that there is conjunction with the Lord through each and all things of the Word.

8871. Of that which is in the heavens above, or that which is in the earth beneath. That this signifies of those things which are in spiritual light, or of those which are in natural light, is evident from the signification of “a likeness of those things which are in the heavens above,” as being those things which appear and are seen in spiritual light, all of which bear relation to the good and truth which are of faith, of charity toward the neighbor, and of love to the Lord-to counterfeit and make a pretense of these things is to “make a likeness of the things which are in the heavens above;” and from the signification of “a likeness of those things which are in the earth beneath,” as being those things which appear and are seen in natural light, which are such as bear relation to civil and moral good and truth-to counterfeit and make a pretense of these things is to make a likeness of those things which are in the earth beneath. In the sense of the letter are meant such things as appear in heaven, as the sun, the moon, the stars; and such things as appear on the earth, as animals of various kinds, both flying, walking, and creeping; but in the internal sense are meant such things as are signified by these, all of which bear relation to good and truth, as was said above.

[2] These things are further described in Moses, in these words:

Lest ye make you a graven image in the shape of any likeness, the figure of male or of female, the figure of any beast that is on the earth, the figure of any winged bird that flieth under heaven, the figure of anything that creepeth on the earth, of a fish that is in the waters under the earth. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and look at the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and thou be impelled, and bow thyself to them, and serve them. Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image of any figure. For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, a zealous God. When ye shall beget sons, and sons’ sons, and ye shall have grown old in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image of any figure, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that perishing ye shall quickly perish from off the land. Jehovah shall scatter you among the peoples, where ye shall serve gods, the work of a man’s hands, wood and stone (Deuteronomy 4:16-19; 23-28).

[3] The reason why it was so severely forbidden to make a likeness of anything in the heavens and on the earth, was chiefly for the reason that that people, which was from Jacob, was very prone to worship external things. The cause was that they were not willing to know anything about the internal things of the church, which belong to faith and love to the Lord, and to charity toward the neighbor. Therefore if they had been allowed to make likenesses of things, they would then have bowed themselves to them and worshiped them as gods; as is very evident from the golden calf which they made for themselves in the midst of so many miracles, and also from their frequent apostasy from Divine worship to idolatrous worship. Nevertheless in the internal sense such things as these are not meant, but the things which have been set forth above.