10127. 'Seven days you shall make propitiation on the altar' means the completeness of the influx into heaven and into the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'seven days' as what is complete, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'making propitiation' as purification from evils and consequently falsities, also dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which is representative of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9388, 9389, 9714, 9964, at this point in heaven and in the Church, 10123. The reason why the sacrifice of a young bull to make propitiation and sanctify the altar should be carried out for seven days was that 'seven days', the same as 'a week', means a whole period, long or short, from start to finish. Therefore also 'seven days' means what is complete. The number three likewise means a whole period from start to finish, and therefore also what is complete. But the difference is that the word 'seven' is used where something holy is referred to, but 'three' when anything whatever is the subject.

[2] It should be remembered that spiritual realities are meant by all numbers in the Word, as is very well known in the next life, where sometimes sheets of paper full of numbers are sent down from heaven to spirits below. Those spirits who receive influx from the Lord see in them a whole chain of realities meant by the numbers, just as if letters had been used. I too have been allowed on several occasions to see such sheets of paper; and also I have been told about certain of the most ancient people, who inwardly lived in fellowship with angels, that they used numbers to embody matters of importance to their Church, and heavenly arcana, and stored those numbers away for themselves as a way of remembering. From this it becomes clear that all numbers in the Word serve to mean spiritual realities. For in the Word not a syllable is devoid of meaning, since the Word has been written not only for people in the world but also at the same time for angels in heaven. Consequently the Word consists of the Divine passing through all the heavens.

[3] All numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities or real things, see 575, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9659.

Seven in the Word implies holy things, 395, 433, 716, 881, 5265, 5268.

Seven also means a whole period from start to finish, thus a complete state, 6508, 9228, as does 'a week', 2044, 3845.

The number three has the same meaning, 2788, 4495, 4901, 5123, 5159, 7715, 9198, 9488, 9489, 9825.

[4] As regards 'making propitiation', it means purification from evils and consequently falsities, or what amounts to the same thing, the removal of them. And since 'making propitiation and expiation' has this meaning it also implies the implantation of goodness and truth and the joining together of the two by the Lord. The reason why this implantation is also implied is that to the extent that a person is purified from evils and falsities, goodness and truth are implanted and joined together by the Lord. When therefore the one has been postulated, the other is postulated. For the Lord is present with every person with the good of love; He loves all people and in His love wishes to join them to Himself, which is achieved through the good of love and the truth of faith. But the evils and consequent falsities which a person makes his own by a life of evil stand in the way and block influx from Him. From all this it is evident what propitiation and expiation is; see also 9506.

9489. 'And a cubit and a half its height' means what is complete so far as degrees are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'a cubit and a half' as what is complete, dealt with immediately above in 9488; and from the meaning of 'height' as degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned. The reason why 'height' has this meaning is that all good and the truth derived from it emanates from the Lord, and the Lord is in the highest place of all, and therefore is called the Most High, 8153. For He is the Sun of heaven, 5097, 8812, and that Sun is above the heavens; it is also the centre from which the whole of heaven that is underneath is brought into being and kept in being. All heights in heaven, measured from its Sun as the centre, are differences in good and the truth derived from it. Consequently those in the inmost heaven are closer to the Lord, because they are governed by the good of love to Him, thus are governed by good more than all others are. Those in the middle heaven are further away from there because they are governed by a lower kind of good, and those in the lowest are still further away. But those in hell are altogether remote from the Lord, because they are ruled by evil and the falsity arising from it. They do not even look towards the Sun, but backwards, away from the Sun. When regarded by the angels therefore, they appear in an upside down position, feet upwards and head downwards. Now since distances and spatial dimensions in the next life are appearances determined by states of good and the truth derived from it, 9440, 'height' in the spiritual sense means degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned, that is, degrees away from the Most High, who is the Lord and so Divine Good itself.

[2] From this it is clear what 'height' means in the following places, as in Jeremiah,

They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah; and their soul will be like a watered garden. Jeremiah 31:12.

Here 'the height of Zion' stands for celestial good, which is the level of good above spiritual good. The meaning of 'height' as good is what accounts for the statement that they will 'converge towards the goodness of Jehovah'. In Ezekiel,

Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon. Its height was made high, and its branches were made long by many waters. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches. Ezekiel 31:3, 5, 7.

'Asshur' stands for an enlightened power of reason, 'a cedar in Lebanon' for the spiritual Church, 'its height' for the degree of good.

[3] In the same prophet,

On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it. Ezekiel 17:23.

Again in the same prophet,

On My holy mountain, and on the mountain height of Israel, all the house of Israel will serve Me. Ezekiel 20:40.

'The mountain height of Israel' stands for the highest degree of good and of the truth derived from it among those belonging to the spiritual Church. Since most things in the Word have a contrary meaning as well, so too does 'height'. In the contrary sense it means the evil of self-love, and so haughtiness of mind, as in Isaiah 14:14; Ezekiel 31:10, 14; 32:5; Amos 2:9; Daniel 4:11, 20; and a number of other places. Another reason why 'height' means degrees so far as good and the truth derived from it are concerned is that what is 'high' means what is internal, and good becomes by degrees more perfect towards more internal parts. For the meaning of what is 'high' as what is internal, see 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599.