8805. And Moses went down from the mountain unto the people. That this signifies application and preparation through truth from the Divine for receiving truths in good, is evident from the signification of “going down,” when said of Moses, by whom is represented truth from the Divine, as being application, and also preparation, through it; from the representation of Moses, as being truth from the Divine (see n. 8760, 8787), and also as being what mediates (n. 8787), thus likewise what prepares and applies; from the signification of “the mountain,” as being the Divine in heaven, thus heaven; and from the representation of the sons of Israel, as being those who are of the spiritual church, thus those who are in truth through which is good, and in good from which is truth, here in the good in which truths are to be received. It is important to know what is specifically signified by “Mount Sinai;” and also what is represented by the people Israel, and likewise what by Moses in this chapter and in the following chapters of the book of Exodus.

[2] By “MOUNT SINAI” is specifically signified heaven, out of which truths flow in from the Lord; therefore by “the coming down of Jehovah upon that mountain” is signified His presence in heaven. And as heaven, in which Jehovah is, that is, the Lord, is signified by “Mount Sinai,” by it is also signified Divine good united to Divine truth there, for from this heaven is heaven.

[3] But by the “PEOPLE ISRAEL” near this mountain is represented the spiritual church as to the good in which the truths of faith are to be implanted; for it has been already shown that they who are of the spiritual church have two states; the former when they are led through truths to good, the latter when they are in good and from good in truths; in the present case, when they are in the good in which truths are to be implanted, which state is a middle state between the former and the latter. The truths which are implanted in good are contained in those things which were promulgated from Mount Sinai by the Lord, and were communicated by Moses to the people.

[4] By “MOSES” in this chapter and in the following chapters is represented truth from the Divine beneath heaven conjoined with truth Divine in heaven, and consequently mediating between the Divine in heaven and the good in which truths are to be implanted which belongs to the spiritual church, thus mediating between the Lord and the people. It is important to know these things for the sake of understanding what follows in the book of Exodus. From all this it can also be seen that by “Moses went down from the mountain unto the people” is signified application and preparation by means of truth from the Divine for receiving truths in good.

5146. 'And in the highest basket' means the inmost degree of the will. This is clear from the meaning of 'a basket' as a degree of the will, dealt with above in 5144; and from the meaning of 'the highest' as the inmost part, dealt with in 2148, 3084, 4599. The reason 'the highest' means the inmost part is that while a person is an inhabitant of space, interior things are seen by him as higher and exterior ones as lower. But when spatial ideas are laid aside, as happens in heaven and also in a person's interior thought, the idea of height and depth is also laid aside; for height and depth belong to spatial ideas. Indeed in the inner heaven not even the idea of interior things and exterior ones exists because even that idea has a spatial element attached to it. Rather, the idea in that heaven is of a state of greater or lesser perfection; for interior things exist within a greater state of perfection than exterior ones because interior things are nearer to the Divine and exterior ones more remote from Him. This is the reason why that which is highest means that which is inmost.

[2] Nevertheless no one can have a mental grasp of the relationship of what is interior to what is exterior unless he knows about degrees, regarding which see 3691, 4154, 5114, 5145. Man has no other notion of what is interior and consequently more perfect than the ever increasing purity of something the more one breaks it down. But greater purity and greater grossness can exist simultaneously in one and the same degree, owing not only to the expanding and condensing of it but also to the limitation of it and to the introduction of similar or else dissimilar elements into it. With an idea such as that regarding his interiors man cannot possibly do other than think that exterior things are attached in a continuous manner to interior ones, and so act entirely as one with them. But if a proper idea regarding degrees is formed one may grasp how interior and exterior things are distinct and separate from one another, so distinct that interior things can come into being and remain in being without exterior ones, whereas exterior things can never do so without interior ones. One may also grasp the nature of the correspondence of interior things within exterior ones, as well as the way in which the exterior things can represent interior ones. This explains why, other than hypothetically, the learned are unable to examine the question regarding the interaction of the soul and the body. Indeed it also explains why many of them believe that life belongs intrinsically to the body, and thus that when their body dies their interiors will die too since these are closely attached to the body. But in actual fact only the exterior degree dies; the interior degree survives and goes on living.