8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9832. 'And they shall take the gold' means the good reigning universally. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490, 9510. Its reigning universally is meant by the fact that the gold was interwoven everywhere in the ephod, as is clear from what is stated later on in this book,

They beat out ¹ the plates of gold and cut them up into threads, to work in among the violet, and in among the purple, and in among the twice-dyed scarlet, and in among the fine linen. Exodus 39:3.

'Reigning universally' describes that which is dominant and so is present in each individual part, see 5949, 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853-8858, 8865. The reason why the gold was interwoven everywhere was that Aaron's garments represented the spiritual heaven, 9814, and in that heaven good holds sway, as it also does in the remaining heavens. In the inmost heaven it is the good of love to the Lord, in the middle one the good of charity towards the neighbour, and in the lowest the good of faith. The truth however which belongs to faith leads the way to good, and afterwards is brought forth from it. From this it is evident that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him. If merely the knowledge of truths, called the truths of faith, is present in a person he does no more than stand in front of the door; or if, knowing those truths, he is looking towards good he goes through into the porch. But if, in knowing those truths, he is not looking towards good he cannot see heaven, not even from a long way off. The reason for saying that a person is not in heaven until good is present within him is that a person must have heaven within him while in the world if he is to enter it after death. For heaven exists within people; and it is granted in mercy to those who during their life in the world allow themselves to be led by means of the truths of faith into charity towards the neighbour and into love to the Lord, that is, into good. People are not in heaven until they have come into that state in which the Lord leads them by means of good, see 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139. By good is meant the good of life; and the good of life consists in the performance of what is good because there is a will for what is good, and a will for what is good springs from love; for what a person loves, he wills.

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8464. 'It is the bread which Jehovah has given you to eat' means that this is the good that will become their own and constitute their life, in the highest sense that this is the Lord within you. This is clear from the meaning of 'bread' as celestial and spiritual good, and in the highest sense as the Lord, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, at this point spiritual good, that is, good as it exists with a member of the spiritual Church, which is the good of truth, dealt with just above in 8458. Since that bread was the manna it follows that this good is meant by 'the manna'. This is also made plain by the description of it in verse 31 of the present chapter, which says 'it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like that of a cake with honey', as well as from the description of it in Numbers 11,

The man[na] was like coriander seed, and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium. They ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, and cooked it in a pan, and made cakes out of it; and its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. ¹ Numbers 11:7-8.

From the details given here it is evident that 'manna' in the spiritual sense means the good of truth, that is, good as it exists with the spiritual Church. They also explain why it is called 'the grain of the heavens' in David,

He commanded the skies from above, and threw open the doors of the heavens. And He caused man[na] to rain down onto them, and gave them the grain of the heavens. Psalms 78:23-24.

'The grain' is the good of truth, see 5295, 5410. 'Manna' again stands for the good of truth, which is given to those who undergo temptations and overcome in them, in John,

He who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white pebble. Revelation 2:17.

The fact that 'manna' in the highest sense is the Lord within us is clear from actual words used by the Lord in John,

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that anyone eating of it may not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. John 6:49-51, 58.

From these words it is clearly evident that 'the manna' in the highest sense means the Lord. The reason why is that 'manna' is the good of truth; but all good comes from the Lord, so that the Lord is within good and is Himself that good.

As regards that good, that this will become their own and constitute their life, this is meant by 'eating', 3168, 3513, 3596, 4745; for good which comes from the Lord brings the life of heaven to a person, and from then on nourishes and sustains it.

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