9505. Verses 17-22 And you shall make a mercy-seat from pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubs; from solid gold you shall make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat. And make one cherub at the end on one side, and one cherub at the end on the other side; of one piece with the mercy-seat you shall make the cherubs ¹ on its two ends. And the cherubs shall be spreading out their wings upwards, covering over the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces of a man towards his brother; ² the faces of the cherubs shall be towards the mercy-seat. And you shall put the mercy-seat onto the ark, up above; and into the ark you shall put the Testimony which I shall give you. And I will meet with you there, and I will speak to you from up above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubs which are over the ark of the Testimony, [declaring] everything that I shall command you for the children of Israel.

'And you shall make a mercy-seat from pure gold' means the hearing and reception of all things that belong to worship arising from the good of love. 'Two cubits and a half shall be its length' means all so far as good is concerned. 'And a cubit and a half its breadth' means what is complete so far as truth is concerned. 'And you shall make two cherubs' means that there is no admission or access to the Lord except through the good of love. 'From solid gold you shall make them' means a representative sign of that good. 'At the two ends of the mercy-seat' means celestial good and spiritual good. 'And make one cherub at the end on one side, and one cherub at the end on the other side' means access to celestial good and access to spiritual good. 'Of one piece with the mercy-seat you shall make the cherubs on the two ends' means the reception of all things that belong to worship arising from those two kinds of good. 'And the cherubs shall be spreading out their wings upwards' means a raising accomplished by the truth of faith. 'Covering over the mercy-seat with their wings' means spiritual realities that provide cover. 'And their faces of a man towards his brother' means truth and good joined together. 'The faces of the cherubs shall be towards the mercy-seat' means the interiors looking unceasingly towards good, thus towards the Lord. 'And you shall put the mercy-seat onto the ark, up above' means the hearing thereby and reception of all things of worship that arise from the good of love. 'And into the ark you shall put the Testimony' means by the Lord in heaven. 'Which I shall give you' means a representative. 'And I will meet with you there' means hearing and reception. 'And I will speak to you from up above the mercy-seat' means a joining together. 'From between the two cherubs' means where celestial good and spiritual good have been joined together. 'Which are over the ark of the Testimony' means with the Lord in heaven. 'Everything that I shall command you for the children of Israel' means the worship of the representative Church.

Voetnoten:

8935. 'An altar of soil you shall make for Me' means something which in a general way represents worship that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as the chief representative of the Lord and consequently of the worship of Him, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489, 4541; and from the meaning of 'soil' or 'the ground' as good. The reason why 'the ground' stands for good is that a Church which abides in good is meant by 'the ground', 566. This is why Adam was said to be formed from the ground, at Genesis 2:7; 3:19; for one who belonged to the celestial Church, that is, the Church itself abiding in good, was meant by him, 478, 479. Since there are two entities that inspire worship of the Lord - goodness and truth - worship springing from good was represented by an altar of soil, while worship springing from truth was represented by an altar of stones. Both kinds of altars are the subject here; and those two entities that inspire worship are called faith and charity. Worship springing from truth has connection with faith, and worship springing from good has connection with charity.

[2] As regards worship inspired by faith and worship inspired by charity, or that which springs from truth and that which springs from good, the situation is that before a person has been regenerated his worship consists of truth, but after he has been regenerated it consists of good. Before a person has been regenerated he is led by means of truth to good, that is, by means of faith to charity; but when he has been regenerated he abides in good and consequently in truth, that is, in charity and consequently in faith, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658. These two kinds of worship are what the altars of soil and of stone represent. The reason why the altar is the chief representative of worship of the Lord is that burnt offerings and sacrifices were offered on it; and it was in these that the worship of God by the Hebrew nation, and subsequently by the Israelite and Jewish nation, chiefly consisted, 923, 1343, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519, 6405.