The Bible

 

Exodus 26

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1 And thou shalt make the Habitation, ten curtains; of fine· twined ·linen, and blue, and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed, with cherubim, the work of a thinker, shalt thou make them.

2 The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits; and the breadth four cubits, for one curtain; one measure for all the curtains.

3 Five curtains shall be coupled one to the other*; and five curtains shall be coupled one to the other.

4 And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the lip of the one curtain at the edge in the coupling, and so shalt thou do in the lip of the curtain at the edge in the second coupling.

5 Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one curtain, and Fifty loops shalt thou make in the extremity of the curtain who is in the second coupling; the loops shall be received one to the other.

6 And thou shalt make fifty clasps of gold, and shalt couple the curtains one to the other by the clasps, and it shall be one Habitation.

7 And thou shalt make curtains of goatswool for a tent over the Habitation; eleven curtains shalt thou make them.

8 The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth four cubits, for one curtain; one measure for the eleven curtains.

9 And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain over against the faces of the Tabernacle.

10 And thou shalt make fifty loops on the lip of the one curtain at the edge in the coupling, and fifty loops on the lip of the curtain of the second coupling.

11 And thou shalt make fifty clasps of bronze, and shalt bring the clasps into the loops, and shalt couple the Tabernacle, that it may be one.

12 And the drape left·​·over in the curtains of the Tabernacle, the half of the curtain left·​·over, thou shalt drape over the back-parts of the Habitation.

13 And the cubit from this side, and the cubit from that, in what is left·​·over in the length of the curtains of the Tabernacle, shall drape over the sides of the Habitation, from this side and from that, to cover it.

14 And thou shalt make for the Tabernacle a covering of skins of red rams, and a covering of the skins of badgers from above.

15 And thou shalt make the planks for the Habitation of shittim* wood, standing up.

16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a plank, and a cubit and half a cubit the breadth of one plank.

17 Two hands shall there be for one plank connected, each to the other; so shalt thou make for all the planks of the Habitation.

18 And thou shalt make the planks for the Habitation, twenty planks for the quarter of the south toward the south.

19 And thou shalt make forty bases of silver under the twenty planks; two bases under one plank for its two hands, and two bases under one plank for its two hands.

20 And for the second rib of the Habitation, at the quarter of the north, twenty planks;

21 and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one plank, and two bases under one plank.

22 And for the two flanks of the Habitation toward the sea thou shalt make six planks.

23 And two planks shalt thou make for the edges of the Habitation in the two flanks.

24 And they shall be twinned from below, and they shall be twinned together at the head of it to one ring; so shall it be for the two of them; they shall be at the two edges*.

25 And there shall be eight planks, and their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one plank, and two bases under one plank.

26 And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood; five for the planks of the one rib of the Habitation;

27 and five bars for the planks of the second rib of the Habitation, and five bars for the planks of the rib of the Habitation at the two·​·flanks toward the sea*.

28 And the middle bar in the middle of the planks shall pass through from extremity to extremity.

29 And thou shalt overlay the planks with gold, and make their rings of gold, houses for the bars; and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold.

30 And thou shalt raise·​·up the Habitation according·​·to the manner which thou wast made to see in the mountain.

31 And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed, and fine· twined ·linen; the work of a thinker shall he make it, with cherubim;

32 and thou shalt put it on four pillars of shittim overlaid with gold, and their links of gold, on four bases of silver.

33 And thou shalt put the veil under the clasps, and shalt bring in thither inside the veil the ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall make·​·a·​·distinction for you between the holy place and the holy of holies.

34 And thou shalt put the place of atonement upon the ark of the Testimony in the holy of the holies.

35 And thou shalt set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the rib of the Habitation toward the south; and thou shalt put the table on the north rib.

36 And thou shalt make a sheltering for the entrance of the Tabernacle of blue, and crimson, and scarlet twice-dyed, and fine· twined ·linen, the work of the embroiderer.

37 And thou shalt make for the sheltering five pillars of shittim, and overlay them with gold; and their links shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast for them five bases of bronze.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9620

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9620. 'The eleven curtains shall have one measure' means that the state of affairs shall be the same [with each one]. This is clear from what has been shown above in 9603.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9603

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9603. 'All the curtains shall have one measure' means that the state of affairs shall be the same [with each one]. This is clear from the meaning of 'measure' as the state of affairs as regards truth, dealt with in 3104, so that 'all the curtains shall have one measure' means that the state of affairs shall be the same with every truth. The expression 'the same state of affairs', when applied to the truths of faith in the spiritual kingdom, means that they all look towards good, and through good towards the Lord, the Source of it. Truths which do not look in this direction are not the truths of faith, nor consequently are they truths of the Church or of heaven. Truths which look in some other direction may indeed to outward appearance seem like truths, but they are not truths because they are devoid of life. For the life of truth is good, and good comes from the Lord, who Alone is life. Truths that look in any other direction are like members of a body without a soul, which are not the members of any body because they are devoid of life and so are useless.

[2] The fact that 'measure' means the state of affairs as regards truth, and also the state of affairs as regards good, is evident from the places in the Word where the measures of the new Jerusalem, and also those of the new temple, are the subject. The new or holy Jerusalem means the Lord's New Church, as does the new temple; therefore by their measures states of affairs as regards truth and as regards good are meant, as in John,

The angel had a gold reed to measure the holy Jerusalem, and its gates, and its wall. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. He measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man (homo), that is, of an angel. Revelation 21:15-17.

The measures stated here, it is plainly evident, mean states as regards good and truth, for 'the holy Jerusalem' is the Lord's New Church, 'its gates and wall' being the protective truths of faith. 'Twelve thousand' means all the truths and forms of good in their entirety; and 'a hundred and forty-four' has a similar meaning, 7973, for this number is similar in meaning to the number twelve because it is the product of twelve multiplied by twelve, and 'twelve' means all truths and forms of good in their entirety, see 577, 2089, 2129 (end), 2130 (end), 3272, 3858, 3913. 'The measure of a man, that is, of an angel' means that this is what the state of the Church and of heaven is like as regards forms of the good of love and truths of faith; for 'a man' is the Church and 'an angel' is heaven. Without knowledge of what is meant by 'the holy Jerusalem', by 'its gates and wall', by the number 'twelve thousand furlongs', and by the measure of the wall being 'a hundred and forty-four [cubits]', and also what is meant by 'the measure', 'a man', and 'an angel', would anyone ever know [the real meaning of the description] that the measure of the city was twelve thousand furlongs, or that the measure of a wall of 144 cubits was the measure of a man, that is, of an angel?

[3] Much the same is meant by the measuring in Zechariah,

I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a man (vir) who had a measuring line in his hand. I said, Where are you going? And he said, To measure Jerusalem to see how broad it is and how long it is. Zechariah 2:1-2.

Also in Chapters 40-42 of Ezekiel, which speak about the man with a measuring rod, who measured the houses of the new city, and also the temple - the walls, gates, footings, thresholds, windows, and steps. Unless the measurements in these places had meant the states of the thing as regards truth and good, such details would never have been mentioned. 'Measuring' generally means the state of the truth and good: In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth beneath searched out, behold, I will nevertheless reject the seed of Israel on account of all that they have done. Behold, the days are coming in which the city for Jehovah will be built. And the measuring line will again go out over the hill of Gareb, and around towards Goah. Jeremiah 31:37-39.

And also in Isaiah,

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, marked off 1 the heavens with His span, and gathered the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills on the scales? Isaiah 40:12.

Footnotes:

1. literally, weighed

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