882. 21:3 And I heard a great voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men." This symbolizes the Lord speaking out of love and proclaiming that He will now be present with people in His Divine humanity.

This is the celestial meaning of these words. Celestial angels, or angels of the third heaven, interpret them in just this way, for to hear a great voice from heaven speaking means to them the Lord speaking and proclaiming something out of love, for it is only the Lord who speaks out of heaven. That is because heaven is not heaven owing to the angels' own qualities, but to the Lord's Divinity, of which they are recipients. A great voice means speech springing from love, for greatness is predicated of love (nos. 656, 663). "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men" means that now the Lord will be present in His Divine humanity. The tabernacle of God means the celestial church, in a universal sense the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine humanity, as may be seen in no. 585 above.

The tabernacle in the highest sense means the Lord's Divine humanity because that is what the Temple ¹ symbolizes, as can be seen from John 2:19, 21, Malachi 3:1, Revelation 21:22, and elsewhere. A tabernacle has a similar symbolism, with the difference that the Temple means the Lord's Divine humanity in respect to Divine truth or Divine wisdom, while a tabernacle means the Lord's Divine humanity in respect to Divine goodness or Divine love. It follows therefore that "behold, the tabernacle of God is with men" means that the Lord will now be present with people in His Divine humanity.

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