9487. 'Two cubits and a half shall be its length' means all so far as good is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'two and a half' as much and as what is complete, and as all when this number has reference to something Divine (the reason why 'two and a half' means much and what is complete is that this number is similar in meaning to five, ten, a hundred, and a thousand, since twice two and a half makes five, twice five makes ten, and ten times ten makes a hundred; for doubles and multiples have a similar meaning to the simple numbers of which they are the products, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. For the meaning of 'five' as much and completeness, see 5708, 5956, 9102; likewise 'ten', 3107, 4638; also 'a hundred', 2636, 4400; and a thousand, 2575, 8715. So it is that when these numbers are used in reference to something Divine they mean all); and from the meaning of 'length' as good, dealt with in 1613, 8898.

[2] To say that 'length' in the Word means good and 'breadth' truth may seem to be like nonsense; nevertheless this is indeed what they mean. The reason why they do so is that all things without exception in the Word mean realities such as belong to heaven and to the Church, and so such as are connected with the good of love and with the truth of faith. No spatial dimensions such as 'length' and 'breadth' imply can be attributed to these; but instead of spatial dimensions the state of their essential being (esse), which is a state of good, and the resulting state of manifestation (existere), which is a state of truth, can be attributed to them. Furthermore in heaven spatial dimensions are appearances produced by those states, 4882, 9440. From all this it becomes clear that spiritual realities are meant by the measurements and dimensions given in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel, where a new temple and a new land are the subject. They are consequently meant here in Exodus, where the ark, the dwelling-place, the court, the tables there, and the altars are the subject. Such realities are in a similar way meant where the temple in Jerusalem is the subject, also when it says that the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven was square, its breadth being as great as its length, Revelation 21:16; Zechariah 2:1-2. For 'Jerusalem' means a new Church, the character of its good being meant by the measurement of its length, and the character of its truth by that of its breadth.

[3] The fact that 'breadth' or 'broad place' means truth is plainly evident in David,

In distress I called on Jah; He answered me in a broad place. Psalms 118:5.

In the same author,

You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Psalms 31:8.

In Isaiah,

The outstretchings of Asshur's wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isaiah 8:8.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching ¹ into the breadths of the earth. Habakkuk 1:6.

'Marching into the breadths of the earth', when said of the Chaldeans, means destroying the truths of faith.

Footnotes:

5945. 'Take for yourselves from the land of Egypt carts' means matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as factual knowledge, dealt with already; and from the meaning of 'carts' as matters of doctrine. Chariots and horses are mentioned in various places in the Word where Egypt is the subject. There 'chariots' is used to mean matters of doctrine, sometimes false, at other times true ones, while 'horses' is used to mean intellectual concepts, likewise true or false ones. (For the meaning of 'chariots' as matters of doctrine, see 5721.) It is similar with 'carts' there, but matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge are meant by them. Matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge are religious teachings drawn from the literal sense of the Word, which serve especially those people who are being introduced for the first time to interior truths that the Church possesses, such as the teaching that good should be done above all to widows, to orphans, and to the poor in the streets. Other such religious teachings are contained in the ten commandments. These and many other teachings are matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge and are meant by 'carts belonging to Egypt'. Because such matters of doctrine are the first to be learned by a person they also serve him subsequently as a groundwork; for when progress is made towards more internal teachings those learned first become the last and lowest. Moreover celestial and spiritual realities actually terminate in them, for they stand and rest so to speak on the matters of doctrine learned first. Indeed the spiritual world has so to speak its feet and the soles of its feet planted on the natural world; and so far as his spiritual life is concerned a person has his feet planted on matters of doctrine that belong to factual knowledge. The internal sense of the Word rests in a similar way on its literal sense. The particular word for 'carts', by which those matters of doctrine are meant, occurs in only a few places in the Word. It is used in the original language where it is said that the Ark was placed on one, 1 Samuel 6:7; 2 Samuel 6:3; and also when the tabernacle was consecrated, Numbers 7:3. The reason for the use of the word is that 'the Ark' represented heaven, 3478, which stands and rests, as has been stated, on matters of doctrine belonging to factual knowledge.