9487. 'Two cubits and a half shall be its length' means all so far as good is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'two and a half' as much and as what is complete, and as all when this number has reference to something Divine (the reason why 'two and a half' means much and what is complete is that this number is similar in meaning to five, ten, a hundred, and a thousand, since twice two and a half makes five, twice five makes ten, and ten times ten makes a hundred; for doubles and multiples have a similar meaning to the simple numbers of which they are the products, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. For the meaning of 'five' as much and completeness, see 5708, 5956, 9102; likewise 'ten', 3107, 4638; also 'a hundred', 2636, 4400; and a thousand, 2575, 8715. So it is that when these numbers are used in reference to something Divine they mean all); and from the meaning of 'length' as good, dealt with in 1613, 8898.

[2] To say that 'length' in the Word means good and 'breadth' truth may seem to be like nonsense; nevertheless this is indeed what they mean. The reason why they do so is that all things without exception in the Word mean realities such as belong to heaven and to the Church, and so such as are connected with the good of love and with the truth of faith. No spatial dimensions such as 'length' and 'breadth' imply can be attributed to these; but instead of spatial dimensions the state of their essential being (esse), which is a state of good, and the resulting state of manifestation (existere), which is a state of truth, can be attributed to them. Furthermore in heaven spatial dimensions are appearances produced by those states, 4882, 9440. From all this it becomes clear that spiritual realities are meant by the measurements and dimensions given in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel, where a new temple and a new land are the subject. They are consequently meant here in Exodus, where the ark, the dwelling-place, the court, the tables there, and the altars are the subject. Such realities are in a similar way meant where the temple in Jerusalem is the subject, also when it says that the holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven was square, its breadth being as great as its length, Revelation 21:16; Zechariah 2:1-2. For 'Jerusalem' means a new Church, the character of its good being meant by the measurement of its length, and the character of its truth by that of its breadth.

[3] The fact that 'breadth' or 'broad place' means truth is plainly evident in David,

In distress I called on Jah; He answered me in a broad place. Psalms 118:5.

In the same author,

You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Psalms 31:8.

In Isaiah,

The outstretchings of Asshur's wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isaiah 8:8.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching ¹ into the breadths of the earth. Habakkuk 1:6.

'Marching into the breadths of the earth', when said of the Chaldeans, means destroying the truths of faith.

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2575. 'Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a thousand' as much and countless, here, as infinite, or an infinite abundance, since the expression has reference to the Lord, a meaning dealt with below; from the meaning of 'silver' as rational truth, dealt with in 1551, 2048; and from the meaning of 'a brother' as celestial good joined to rational truth, like a brother to a sister, 2524, 2557. From this it is evident that 'I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother' means an infinite abundance of rational truth joined to [celestial] good. The reason this abundance was granted to good, meant by 'a brother', but not to truth, is that truth derives from good, not good from truth. Regarding that infinite abundance, see 2572.

[2] That 'a thousand' in the Word means much and countless, and infinite when it has reference to the Lord, is evident from the following places: In Moses,

I, Jehovah your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generations of those who hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:5-6; 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9-10.

And in Jeremiah,

Jehovah shows mercy to thousands and He repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. Jeremiah 32:18.

In these two places 'thousands' does not mean a definite number but that which is infinite, for the Lord's mercy, being Divine, is infinite. In David,

The chariots of God are myriad on myriad, thousands on thousands; ¹ the Lord is within them, Sinai within holiness. Psalms 68:17.

Here 'myriads' and 'thousands' stand for things that are countless.

[3] In the same author,

A thousand will fall at your side, and a myriad at your right hand; it will not come near you. Psalms 91:7.

Here also 'a thousand' and 'a myriad' stand for things that are countless, and as it has reference to the Lord, who is meant by 'David' in the Psalms, those numbers stand for all who are His enemies. In the same author,

Our garners are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks bring forth a thousand, and ten thousand in our streets. Psalms 144:13.

Here also 'a thousand', and 'ten thousand' or a myriad, stand for things that are countless. In the same author,

A thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it is past. Psalms 90:4.

'A thousand years' stands for that which is outside time, thus for eternity, which is infinity of time. In Isaiah,

One thousand at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five will you flee until you are left like a flagstaff on top of a mountain. Isaiah 30:17.

Here 'one thousand' or a chiliad stands for a large indefinite number, 'five' for few, 649. In Moses,

May Jehovah the God of your fathers add to you, as you are, a thousand times, and may He bless you. Deuteronomy 1:11.

Here 'a thousand times' stands for things that are countless, as in everyday speech in which also a thousand is an expression for many, as when one speaks of things being said thousands of times, or done in thousands of ways. Similarly in Joshua,

One man of you will chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God fights for you. Joshua 23:10.

[4] Being a definite calculable number, the word 'thousand' when used in prophetical parts, especially when these are linked together as historical descriptions, appears to mean a thousand. But in fact it means people who are many or countless - an unspecified number. For historical descriptions are of such a nature that they restrict people's ideas to the most immediate and proper meanings that the words possess, as they also do with the names that occur there, when in fact numbers in the Word, like names also, mean real things, as may become clear from what has been shown already concerning numbers in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252. This explains why some people suppose that the thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:1-7 means a thousand years or periods of time, for the reason, as has been stated, that prophecies are declared in that book through historical descriptions. But in fact 'a thousand years' there means nothing else than that which is large and indeterminate, and elsewhere infinity of time, or eternity.

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