9955. 'And fill their hand' means a representative sign of the Lord in respect of the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'filling the hand' of Aaron and his sons as consecrating to serve as a representative sign of the Lord in respect of Divine Truth that constitutes faith. For 'the hand' means the power that truth from good possesses, and therefore the hand is spoken of in reference to truth, see 3091, 3387, 4931-4937, 7518, 8281, 9025. Consequently, then, just as anointing served to represent the Lord in respect of Divine Good, so the filling of hands represented the Lord in respect of Divine Truth. For everything throughout creation has connection with goodness or truth, or both if it is to have any real existence. In the Word therefore wherever the subject has to do with good, it has to do also with truth, see the places referred to in 9263, 9314. In what way the filling of hands was carried out is described in the next chapter; therefore what needs to be said about it will in the Lord's Divine mercy appear there.

2811. 'And Abraham built the altar there' means preparation of the Lord's Divine human. This is clear from the meaning of 'the altar' and of 'building the altar'. Altars used to mean all worship in general because they were the chief feature of the worship of the representative Church, 921. And because they meant all worship in general they meant the Lord's Divine Human, for the Lord's Divine Human is essentially present in all worship and all doctrine, so much so that it is the very essence of worship itself and doctrine itself. This becomes clear also from the Holy Supper which superseded altars, that is, burnt offerings and sacrifices, 2165, 2187, 2343, 2359. The Holy Supper is the chief feature of external worship because it is the Lord's Divine Human that is bestowed there. From all this it may become clear, and so without further explanation, that 'building an altar' means preparing the Divine human. The final preparation of the Lord's Divine human for undergoing the last degrees of temptation is the subject in the present verse and is described by the statement that Abraham laid the pieces of wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the pieces of wood.