9539. 'The rings shall be close to the rail, as houses for the poles' means the power from this. This is clear from the meaning of 'the rail' which 'the rings shall be close to' as the joining in outermost parts to truth from the Divine, dealt with in 9534; from the meaning of 'the rings' as the receptacle of it, also dealt with above, in 9536; and from the meaning of 'the poles' as power, dealt with in 9496. The expression 'as houses' is used because the subject is celestial good and the power of its receptacle, that good being meant by 'the bread of faces' and its receptacle by 'the table' on which the loaves were laid. 'Houses' furthermore means that good in the outermost parts. For the meaning of 'house' as good, see 2233, 2234, 2559, 3652, 3720, 4982, 7848, 7929.

7848. 'On the houses' means the desires composing a will that seeks what is good. This is clear from the meaning of 'house' as a person, dealt with in 3128, and as the human mind, 3538, 4973, 5023, 7353, consequently that which composes the will, at this point that which composes a will seeking what is good. The reason why 'house' also means the will is that a person is meant by it, and a person is a person primarily by virtue of what he wills. Furthermore, whether you say a person or his mind it amounts to the same thing. For a person is not a person by virtue of his physical body but by virtue of his mind; and what his mind is like - that is, what his understanding and will are like, primarily what his will is like - determine what kind of person he is.