9481. 'In accordance with all that I show you, the pattern of the dwelling-place' means a representative of heaven where the Lord is. This is clear from the meaning of 'the pattern of the dwelling-place' as a representative of heaven; for 'the pattern' means a representative, and 'the dwelling-place' means heaven. The reason why 'the pattern' means a representative is that Divine realities in heaven are also manifested in visible shapes, which are representatives. For the meaning of 'the dwelling-place' as heaven where the Lord is, see 8269, 8309. What the representatives that appear in heaven are like is clear in the prophets, for example in John's Book of Revelation, in which he describes lampstands, Chapter 1:12ff; a throne with twenty-four thrones around it, and four living creatures before the throne, Chapter 4:2ff; a book sealed with seven seals, Chapter 5; horses going out when the seals were opened, Chapter 6; angels who are clothed in various ways and have bowls, Chapters 9, 10, 15, 16; a white horse, Chapter 19; and at length a new Jerusalem, its walls, gates, foundations, height, breadth, and length, Chapters 21, 22. Similar sights are also described by other prophets.

[2] All those sights are representatives such as appear unceasingly in heaven before angels' eyes, manifesting in visible shapes the Divine celestial realities that belong to the good of love and the Divine spiritual realities that belong to the good of faith. Such realities taken all together were represented by the tabernacle and its contents, that is, the ark itself, the table on which loaves were laid, the altar of incense, the lampstand, and everything else. Therefore when these objects, being outward forms of Divine celestial and spiritual realities, were beheld by the people while they were engaged in holy acts of worship, such realities as were represented by those objects were brought to notice in heaven. These, as stated above, were the Divine celestial realities that belong to the good of love to the Lord and the Divine spiritual realities that belong to the good of faith in the Lord. All the representatives of that Church had that kind of effect in heaven. It should be realized that a person always has spirits and angels present with him and that a person cannot live without them. It should likewise be realized that through them the person is linked to the Lord, and that in this way the human race, and heaven too, is kept in being. From this one can see what purpose was served by the representatives and also the ritual observances of the Church established among the Israelite nation. One can also see what purpose is served by the Word, in which all things mentioned in the sense of the letter correspond to Divine realities that exist in heaven, thus in which all the objects mentioned are representative and all the words used carry a spiritual meaning. This is what brings about the linking of a person to heaven, and through heaven to the Lord. Without that link the person would have no life whatever, for without being linked to the actual Essential Being (Esse) of life, from which the Coming-into-Being (Existere) of life emanates, no one has life.

[3] But these considerations are unintelligible to those who think that life exists essentially in a person himself and that a person lives without spirits or angels, thus without influx from the Divine by way of heaven. But in actual fact anything that is not linked to the Divine perishes and ceases to exist. Indeed nothing can ever come into being without that which is prior to itself, thus without the Divine, who is the First and is self-existent Being (Esse) or Jehovah; nor consequently can it remain in being, for remaining in being is constant coming-into-being. Because 'the dwelling-place' means heaven where the Lord is, it also means the good of love and faith, since these compose heaven; and because all good comes from the Lord, and heaven is called heaven by virtue of its love to and faith in the Lord, 'the dwelling-place' also means in the highest sense the Lord, as is evident in Isaiah 63:15; Jeremiah 25:30; Ezekiel 37:26-27; Psalms 26:8; 43:3; 90:1; 91:9; Exodus 15:13; Deuteronomy 12:5, 11; and other places. From this it is clear that the tabernacle was called Jehovah's sanctuary and dwelling-place for the reason that it represented the realities mentioned above.

"And his name is called The Word of God." Revelation 19:13

Additional readings: Isaiah 44:21-28 Psalms 15, Psalm 16

If we believe in God, our Heavenly Father, Who created the world and placed us in it, then we must believe in a Word of God, a Bible, a message from God to tell us what we need to know about Himself and about our relation to Him and about how to live in order to fulfill the purpose of our creation.

A loving parent would tell his children what they needed to know. Still more would our heavenly Father tell his children of Himself and of His love for them and of their nature, in His image and likeness, born for a short life in this world and for eternal development in heaven. He would warn them of the dangers of selfish ness and tell them of the safety and bussing of keeping near to Him and living according to his precepts and commandments.

Consequently there must be a Word, instruction from the Lord to every age and to every people. This Word may be given by perceptions of wisdom from within, by visions, by instruction by angels, as in the early days of the creation of man. At a later date it was given through prophets and took the form of a written and printed Word, to suit the needs of the people. The form may change but there must always be a Word, some message from the Lord to show us the way to a safe and happy life.

In the Writings of the New Church, we are told of an Ancient Word existing and in use long before the days of Moses, written in symbol and parable, as was the custom of speaking and writing in that age. Parts of this Ancient Word are preserved in our scriptures, brief fragments in the books of numbers, Judges, and Samuel, and several chapters at the beginning of the book of Genesis, the first seven chapters verbatim, and the first eleven in substance. Confirmation of the fact of the existence of this Ancient Word is found in the stories of Eden and the flood so like our own which are found in the remains of several nations, especially in those parts of the Near East which were the home of the Church which possessed the Ancient Word.

There has in all ages and with all peoples been a Word of God. We need to note that there are other sacred literatures than the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. These come in part from the same source and bring divine precepts to peoples of a genius differing from our own, but they are mixed with much which is not divine. We should realize that the Old and the New Testaments are the Lord's Word to us. And as they treat of the Lord's life on earth, and as these scriptures are the Word which was made flesh, the Law and the Prophets which He came to fulfill, they are in a unique sense the Word for the whole world to which the command applies, "Go ye, and teach this Gospel to all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

It is indeed a marvel that men can hold in their hands a book which contains a message from God, the Creator of the universe. To some it seems incredible. But God has the power to reach down through all the degrees of the spiritual world and all degrees of the natural. He did reach down through these planes in creating them and still does so in sustaining them. The Word can follow wherever creation goes, for every created object on every plane is an expression of the Divine love and wisdom of the Creator.

Even objects of the lowest natural plane are symbols and types of the Divine spirit within. So comes the parable, heavenly truths clothed in natural terms. In these universal terms God speaks to man, and His Word contains a message for everyone from the highest angel to the lowest man. Everyone hears the message according to his ability to understand, and even in its lowest form, which is the literal meaning, there is Divine light and power, so that it is throbbing with inward life.

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9). Here is another marvel; the Divine Word can be opened if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. That is why the Lord did not need to set aside the old law, but only to open it in order to reveal the heavenly and Christian message which it contains. He did not destroy the Law and the Prophets, but opened the ancient scriptures and brought forth from them a new light and power for a new age, to meet a new and upward step in the world's development.

And this is the method of His second Coming. For the Word holds at its center the very Divine love, wisdom, and power of God, and has within it love and life for every plane of human life in heaven and on earth, through which it passed to its expression in the language and symbols of this earth.

The New Church is the church of the opened Word, the new light for the new age, revealing the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as the Divine Word for the present day.

That the world has entered a new age we cannot doubt. And this age needs a Word, a message of guidance, protection, and instruction from the Lord. Never was such a message needed more. While those who recognize this need stand doubting, wondering whether to reject the old Word as having served its use—a Word for a crude, unscientific age—and to expect a new Word to fall from heaven or to evolve itself in human minds, the Lord Himself has acted and met the need. He has by a chosen servant showed us that the Word already given has within it Divine love and truth and a message from God to every plane and degree of human development in earth and heaven.

He has opened the Word, the Word which has so endeared itself to men and women in the past and which has proved its power to thousands of heavenward pilgrims of many races. He has opened the word to give what the world needs for its guidance in a new age, a new revealing of Himself, a new revealing of the Christian law in its application to individual life and to the larger social life, a new revealing of what He has done and is doing in heaven and in earth for the establishment of His kingdom.

Out of the old Word, the Word long tried and loved, the new light shines, opening before us the path of the New Age. In the march of progress One goes before us, and the host of heaven follow, and the host of heaven follow, and the host of men and women who work for the progress of the heavenly kingdom, who are ready to give themselves, head and heart and hand for the uplifting of humanity, who are willing to give their lives to make men better and the world happier. "And his name is called the Word of God."