9864. 'There shall be four rows of stones, the order being' means all of them joined together, that is to say, all the truths springing from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as a joining together, dealt with in 1686, 9601, 9674; and from the meaning of 'rows of stones' as truths springing from good in their proper order. The setting of them in four rows, three in each row, was decreed in order that the joining together of all the truths springing from the same good, and so their perfection, might be represented; for 'four' means a joining together, as has been stated, and 'three' means perfection, 9825. Indeed since one and the same good is the source from which they all emanate, 9863, and is consequently the one to which they all look back, that good is what joins them all together.

[2] Things that happen in heaven may serve to cast light on all this and show that it is so. All without exception in heaven turn their face towards the Lord; and - marvel that it is - this happens whatever direction they turn to face. As a consequence of this all who are in heaven are joined together as one. But those who are outside heaven turn their face away from the Lord; and the further away they are from heaven the further away their faced is turned. As a consequence of this there is division among them, because they do not love God or their neighbour, only themselves and the world. But this is an arcanum which for those whose thought is ruled by the illusions of the senses is inconceivable; for they cannot at all comprehend how every face in heaven can be always looking, in whatever direction its owner turns, towards the Lord, who is the Sun there. See what has been introduced above in 9828 on this subject.

9674. '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. This is clear from the meaning of 'four' as a joining or linking together, dealt with in 1686, 8877 ('four' means a joining together because this number is the product of two multiplied by itself, and multiple numbers have the same meaning as the simple ones that produce them, 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973, 'two' meaning a joining together, see 5194, 8423); from the meaning of 'pillars' as support, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'shittim wood' as the good of merit, which is the Lord's alone, dealt with in 9472, 9486, this good being the one and only good that reigns in heaven, see 9486, and so also that lends support to heaven. Support is meant by 'the pillars' because these supported the veil, just as the boards also made from shittim wood supported the curtains of the dwelling-place, 9634.

[2] 'Pillars' in the spiritual sense means those things that support heaven and the Church, which are forms of the good of love and forms of the good of faith from the Lord. These forms of good are meant by 'pillars' in David,

I will judge uprightly. ¹ The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolving; I will set its pillars firm. Psalms 75:2-3.

In Job,

God shakes the earth out of its place, to the extent that its pillars tremble. Job 9:6.

'The pillars of the earth' stands for the forms of good and the truths that support the Church; for 'the earth' in the Word is the Church, 9325. Plainly they are not pillars supporting this planet that are going to tremble. In John,

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go outside any more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Revelation 3:12.

'A pillar in the temple' stands for the Church's forms of good and its truths, which are also 'the name of God' and 'the name of the city, new Jerusalem'. 'The name of God' is everything good and true in the Church, or everything in its entirety through which the Lord is worshipped, see 2724, 3006, 6674, 9310.

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