9548. 'And you shall make a lampstand' means the spiritual heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'a lampstand' as the Divine Spiritual from the Lord in heaven and in the Church. The reason why 'a lampstand' means the Divine Spiritual is that 'the table' on which the loaves of the Presence were laid means the Divine Celestial, as has been shown in what has gone before. The Divine Celestial is the good of love, and the Divine Spiritual the truth of faith derived from that good; and both of these emanate from the Lord, 9227. The lampstand is the Divine Spiritual on account of the light it sheds; for Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord's Divine Good is what shines in heaven. There is no other source from which angels receive light. This is why in the Word the Lord is called the Light, and why 'light' means faith, also an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good, which come from the Lord alone, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3094, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4060, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4414, 4415, 4419, 4527, 4598, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6315, 6608, 6907, 7174, 8644, 8707, 8861, 9399, 9407.

[2] 'A lampstand' means the spiritual heaven by virtue of Divine Truth which is present there from the Lord, and therefore also means the Church; and 'a lamp' means faith, also an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good, which come from the Lord alone. This is clear from places in the Word where 'lampstand' and 'lamp' are mentioned, as in John,

I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man. The seven lampstands are the seven Churches. Revelation 1:12-13, 20.

And in the same book,

I will remove your lampstand from its place if you do not repent. Revelation 2:5.

A Church is called 'a lampstand' in these places by virtue of Divine Truth which is present there from the Lord. The fact that 'a lampstand' means a Church is self-evident, for it says, 'The seven lampstands are the seven Churches'. The fact that a Church is called such on account of Divine Truth is evident from the statement, 'I will remove your lampstand if you do not repent'. And the fact that this Truth comes from the Lord [is also self-evident], for it says, 'In the midst of the lampstands one like the Son of Man'; and the Lord is called the Son of Man by virtue of His Divine Truth, see 2803, 2813, 3704.

[3] In the same book,

I will grant My two witnesses to prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. Revelation 11:3-10.

'The two witnesses' are the Word in both Testaments, in that they bear witness to the Lord. It is called 'an olive tree' by virtue of the Divine Good and 'a lampstand' by virtue of the Divine Truth which come from the Lord.

[4] In Zechariah, when the angel who was speaking said to the prophet,

What do you see? I said to him, I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold; its bowl is on top of it, ¹ and its seven lamps are on it with seven pipes to the lamps. Two olive trees are beside it, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left of it. Zechariah 4:2-3.

This refers to Zerubbabel, who was about to lay a foundation for God's house and bring it to completion. He represents the Lord, in that He was about to come and to re-establish the spiritual heaven and the Church, these being what is meant by 'a lampstand', and the holy truths there what is meant by 'seven lamps'.

[5] The fact that 'a lamp' means faith, also an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good, which come from the Lord alone, is clear in John,

The holy Jerusalem has no need of the sun or of the moon to shed light in it. The glory of God will give it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations that are saved will walk in His light. Revelation 21:23-24.

And further on,

There will be no night there, nor do they need a lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Revelation 22:5.

'Lamp' in the first quotation stands for Divine Truth that comes from the Lord, and 'light' for faith, and so also for intelligence and wisdom. In the same book,

The light of a lamp will not shine in you any more, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will not be heard in you any more. Revelation 18:23.

[6] And in Jeremiah,

I will take away the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of mills, and the light of the lamp, that the whole land may be a desolation and devastation. Jeremiah 25:10-11.

This refers to the elimination of faith and consequently of intelligence in spiritual matters meant here by the lamp which will no longer be there and by 'the light of the lamp' which will be taken away.

[7] The like occurs in Job,

How often is the lamp of the wicked put out and [how often] does destruction come upon them? Job 21:17.

In David,

You light my lamp; Jehovah my God makes my darkness bright. Psalms 18:28; 2 Samuel 22:29.

In the same author,

By Your commands I have been made intelligent. Your Word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my path. Psalms 119:104-105.

In Job,

When God causes a lamp to shine over my head I would walk in darkness towards His light. Job 29:3.

In Matthew,

The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matthew 6:22-23; Luke 8:16; 11:33-36.

'The eye' is used here to mean faith and consequent intelligence - the fact that these are meant in the internal sense by 'the eye', see 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 9051. And from this the meaning of the words, 'If your eye is good your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil your whole body will be full of darkness' is self-evident. Since faith and consequent intelligence and wisdom is meant by 'a lamp' the kings of Judah are called lamps to David, 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19; and David himself is called the lamp of Israel, 2 Samuel 21:16-17. Not that the kings of Judah were lamps; nor was David. Rather they were called such because 'a king' means Divine Truth that comes from the Lord, 6148, and 'David' the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, the source of faith, intelligence, and wisdom, 1888.

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7270. 'You Shall speak all that I command you, [and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh,] means the reception of Divine influx, and communication. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses', who is to speak, as Divine Truth, and from the representation of 'Aaron as teachings derived from it, both dealt with in 7089; from the meaning of 'speaking' as influx and the reception of it, dealt with in 5797; and from the meaning of 'commanding' too as influx, dealt with in 5486, 5732, here the reception of influx. From all this it is evident that 'speaking' means the influx of Divine Truth in an indirect way into doctrinal teachings, that is, with the teacher, (for it is implied that Moses, representing Divine Truth, was to speak what Jehovah commanded to Aaron, who represents doctrinal teachings or the teacher, thus to him who was to communicate it) and that 'commanding' means a direct Divine influx into the Divine Law, which 'Moses' represents.

[2] How these matters are to be understood may be seen from what has been stated already in 7009, 7010, Where it is shown that 'Moses' represents truth that comes forth directly from the Divine, and that 'Aaron' represents the truth that comes forth in an indirect way. Anyone unacquainted with the nature of order consisting in consecutive degrees cannot be acquainted with the nature of influx either. Therefore let a brief statement be made on this subject. Since truth which comes forth directly from the Lord is from the Infinite and Divine Being Himself, it cannot be received at all by any living, finite substance, thus not by any angel. This being so, the Lord created degrees consecutively descending to serve as the means by which Divine Truth coming forth directly from Him could be communicated. But the first degree away from Him is still too full of the Divine to enable that Truth to be received by any living, finite substance, and so by any angel. On account of this the Lord created a further degree down, by which Divine Truth coming forth directly from Him was to some extent able to be received. This degree is God's truth which exists in heaven. These first two degrees are above the heavens; they are like belts, made radiant by a fiery source, which surround the Sun, which is the Lord. This is the nature of the consecutive degrees of order down to the heaven nearest to the Lord, which is the third heaven where the innocent and wise live. From there consecutive degrees continue down to the lowest heaven, and from the lowest heaven down to the degree of the senses and the body in man, the last in the series to receive influx.

[3] From all this it is clear that degrees one after another continue from Him who is the First, that is, the Lord, right down to the last and lowest present with man, indeed right down to the last and lowest present in the natural order. The last and lowest degrees present with man, like those in the natural order, are relatively unresponsive and consequently frigid; they are also relatively general and consequently obscure. From this it is also evident that through those consecutive degrees all things exist in a continuous chain linked to the First Being (Esse). And it is in accordance with those degrees that influx takes place; for Divine Truth coming forth directly from Divine Good flows into one degree after another. On the way down or with each new degree it becomes more general, and so grosser and more obscure, and becomes more sluggish, and so more unresponsive and frigid. All this clarifies the nature of Divine Order consisting of consecutive degrees and consequently of the nature of influx.

[4] But it should be fully recognized that God's truth, which flows into the third heaven nearest to the Lord, at the same time flows right down into the last and lowest degrees of order as well, without undergoing consecutive degrees of formation. Every single thing at that level is also directly governed and provided by Him who is the First. In this way the consecutive degrees are held together in their proper order and connection. The truth of this may also be recognized to some extent from the law not unknown to the learned in the world that there is only one substance which really is substance. Everything else is a formation from it, and that one and only substance reigns not solely as the form but as that too which is not the form, for instance, as that which gave rise to them. If this were not so, what has been formed could not remain in being and operate. But these matters are stated for him who may be able to understand them.