8152. En hij jaagde na achter de zonen Israëls; dat dit betekent het streven om degenen te onderwerpen die in het met de naastenliefde verbonden geloof zijn, staat vast uit de betekenis van najagen, namelijk het streven om te onderwerpen, nr. 8136; en uit de uitbeelding van de zonen Israëls, namelijk zij die van de geestelijke Kerk zijn, waarover eerder; dus degenen die in het met de naastenliefde verbonden geloof zijn, want zij die van de Kerk zijn, zijn in dat geloof zowel ten aanzien van de leer als ten aanzien van het leven, het goede van het geloof of de naastenliefde is het wezenlijke, dus op de eerste plaats voor degenen die van de echte geestelijke Kerk zijn maar voor hen die het geloof hebben dat gescheiden is van zijn goede, zowel ten aanzien van de leer als ten aanzien van het leven, is het ware van het geloof of het geloof het wezenlijke of op de eerste plaats; deze mensen zijn niet van de Kerk, want het leven maakt de Kerk, maar niet de leer, tenzij voor zoveel als deze van het leven wordt.

Daaruit blijkt dat de Kerk van de Heer niet hier is of daar, maar dat zij overal is, zowel binnen die rijken waar de Kerk is, als buiten die, waar men leeft volgens de geboden van de naastenliefde.

Vandaar komt het, dat de Kerk van de Heer verspreid is over het gehele wereldrond en dat zij toch één is; wanneer immers het leven de Kerk maakt en niet de van het leven gescheiden leer, dan is de Kerk één, maar wanneer de leer de Kerk maakt, dan zijn het er verscheidene.

9669. Verses 31-33 And you shall make a veil from violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine twined linen; with the work of a designer it shall be made, ¹ with cherubs. And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood] overlaid with gold, and their hooks [shall be made] from gold; [they shall stand] on four bases of silver. And you shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, within the veil; and let the veil be for you a divider between the holy place and the holy of holies.

'And you shall make a veil' means the intermediary uniting this heaven and the inmost heaven, thus spiritual good to celestial good. 'From violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine twined linen' means the forms of the good of love and faith that are joined together there. 'With the work of a designer it shall be made' means the power of understanding. 'With cherubs' means watchfulness, guarding against the intermingling of the two. 'And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood]' means the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, linking them together and providing support. 'Overlaid with gold' means a representative sign there [of good]. 'And their hooks [shall be made] from gold' means the modes by which they are linked together through good. '[They shall stand] on four bases of silver' means the power by which they are linked together through truth. 'And you shall hang up the veil under the clasps' means the ability to link them together and the consequent accomplishment of this. 'And you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, within the veil' means the coming-into-being of the inmost heaven within that uniting intermediary. 'And let the veil be for you a divider between the holy place and the holy of holies' means between spiritual good - which is the good of charity towards the neighbour and the good of faith in the Lord - and celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord and the good of mutual love.

Footnotes:

4065. 'And from what belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth' means that He gave it to Himself. This is clear from the meaning of 'gaining wealth' as giving to oneself. For the highest sense has reference to the Lord, who in no way took anything of what was good and true from anybody else, only from Himself. Another type of good had served Him, it is true, as a means, a good which was related to the maternal side of Him, for Laban, who means that good, was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's mother. But through that means He acquired to Himself the things by which He made His Natural Divine by His own power. It is one thing to acquire something to oneself from a means and another to do so through a means. He acquired them through that means because He was born a human being and derived from the mother something hereditary which had been cast away. He did not however acquire anything from that means since He was conceived from Jehovah from whom He had the Divine. Consequently He gave Himself all the goods and truths which He made Divine. For the Divine Himself has no need of anyone, not even of that intermediate good, except that His will was that everything should be done in keeping with order.