9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

7437. Lo he goeth forth to the waters. That this signifies that from these evils they again think falsities, is evident from the signification of “going forth,” as being thought from evils to falsities, for when those who are in evils think from them to falsities, they are said to “go forth,” for as evil is of the will it is inmost, and falsity is outside of it, because falsity is of the understanding, consequently of the thought; this is signified by “going forth” in the spiritual sense, and also evil action from an evil will, as in Mark 7:21-23; and from the signification of “waters,” as being truths, and in the opposite sense falsities (see n. 739, 790, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4676, 5668), and also because the waters of the river of Egypt, to which Pharaoh would go forth, denote falsities (n. 7307).

[2] As regards thought from evils to falsities, be it known that they who are in evils cannot do otherwise than think from them to falsities; for evils are of their will and consequently of their love, and falsities are of their thought and consequently of their faith. For what a man wills, he loves; and what he loves, he confirms and defends; and evils cannot be confirmed and defended except by means of falsities; and therefore in the Word, where evil is compared to a city, falsities are compared to the walls round about the city. That they who are in evils think to the falsities by which they defend the evils, is because evils are the very delights of their life, insomuch that they are their very life. And therefore when they apprehend from others that they are evils, then in order to prevent their appearing so, they devise falsities by which they may cause the evils not to be believed to be evils; but if the evils dare not appear through falsities, they are hidden in the interiors, nor do they show themselves except when the fear of the law, or of the loss of reputation for the sake of gain or of acquiring honors, ceases; and then the evils burst forth either under the form of artifices, or of open hostilities.

[3] From all this it can be seen that they who are in evils cannot do otherwise than think from evils to falsities. It is the same also with those who are in a state of good, in that they cannot do otherwise than think from good to truths; for good and truth are conjoined, and also evil and falsity, insomuch that he who knows that anyone is in good, can know that he is in the truth of his good; and that he who is in evil is in the falsity of his evil; and that he is in this falsity in proportion as he excels in the gift of reasoning and perverting, and also in proportion as he is in the fear of the loss of reputation for the sake of gain and honors, and in proportion as he desires to be in the freedom of doing evil. Strange to say, after such persons have for some time defended evils by means of falsities, they at last persuade themselves that evils are goods, and that falsities are truths.

6723. And she took an ark of rush. That this signifies what is of low value round about, but nevertheless derived from truth, is evident from the signification of “an ark,” ¹ as being what is round about, or that in which anything is inclosed (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “rush,” as being what is of low value, but nevertheless derived from truth. That “rush” denotes what is of low value is evident, and that it denotes what is derived from truth is because a “rush” has this signification, as is clear in Isaiah:

Woe to the land that is overshadowed with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush; that sendeth envoys to the sea, even in vessels of rush upon the faces of the waters (Isaiah 18:1-2);

“the land overshadowed with wings” denotes the church, which darkens itself by means of reasonings from memory-knowledges; “beyond the rivers of Cush” denotes to the knowledges whereby they confirm false principles (n. 1164); “to send envoys to the sea” denotes to consult memory-knowledges (see n. 28); “in vessels of rush upon the faces of the waters,” denotes the lowest receptacles of truth.

[2] In the opposite sense:

The dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty place springs of waters; there shall be grass instead of the reed and the rush (Isaiah 35:7);

“grass instead of the reed and the rush,” denotes that there will be true memory-knowledge instead of things in which there is no truth. That “grass” denotes true memory-knowledge is plain from the passages in the Word where it is mentioned.

[3] As it was provided that Moses should represent the Lord as to the law Divine, or the Word, specifically the historic Word, it was therefore brought about that when he was an infant he was placed in a little ark, but in one of low value, because he was in his first rising, and because his being there was only a representative; but that afterward when the law Divine itself had shone forth from Mount Sinai, it was placed in an ark which was called the “ark of the testimony.” (That the law Divine was placed in the ark, see Exodus 40:20; 1 Kings 8:9; and also that the books of Moses were placed in it, Deuteronomy 31:24-26.)

[4] Hence the ark was most holy, because it represented the Lord’s Divine Human as to the Divine law; for from the Lord’s Divine Human proceeds the Divine law, or the Divine truth, which is the same as the “Word” mentioned in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father (John 1:1, 14).

And as the ark represented that most holy thing, the propitiatory with the cherubs was placed over the ark; and near the veil thereof the lampstand with its lamps, and the golden table with loaves, both of which signified the Divine love. This then is the reason why Moses, when an infant, because he represented the law Divine, was placed in a little ark.

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