10047. And sprinkle it upon the altar round about. That this signifies conjunction with Divine good, is evident from the signification of “the blood that was to be sprinkled upon the altar round about,” as being Divine truth (n. 10026, 10033); and from the representation of the altar, as being a representative of the Lord as to Divine good (n. 9388, 9389, 9714, 9964). From this it is plain that “to sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about,” denotes to unite Divine truth with Divine good in the Lord.

[2] The case herein is as follows. It was said above that in this chapter the subject treated of is the glorification of the Lord’s Human, and in the representative sense the regeneration of man by the Lord. As regards the glorification of the Lord’s Human, it was effected by the unition of Divine truth with Divine good. The Divine good, which is Jehovah, was in the Lord as the soul from the father in man, for He was conceived of Jehovah, and through Divine means He made His Human Divine truth, especially through the combats of temptations; and insofar as He united it He glorified it, that is, made it Divine. This unition is what is signified in the supreme sense by “sprinkling the blood round about the altar.” (That when the Lord was in the world He made His Human Divine truth and united it with the Divine good which was in Himself, and thus glorified His Human, see the places cited in n. 9199, 9315; as also that Jehovah His father is the Divine good which was in Him, n. 9194.)

[3] As the Lord glorified His Human, so also He regenerates man; for with man the Lord flows in with good through the soul, which is through the internal way, and with truth through the hearing and the sight, which is through the external way; and insofar as a man desists from evils, so far the Lord conjoins the good with truth, and the good becomes of charity toward the neighbor and of love to God, and the truth becomes of faith. So does the Lord create the man anew, or regenerate him; for as before said the regeneration of man is effected by purification from evils and falsities, by the implantation of good and truth, and by the conjunction of these. The regeneration of man, and in the supreme sense the glorification of the Lord’s Human, is what is represented by the sacrifices and burnt-offerings (n. 10022).

[4] Be it known that in the burnt-offerings the blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about; in like manner in the eucharistic sacrifices; but in the sacrifices for guilt and for sin the blood was sprinkled at the base of the altar. By sprinkling the blood on the altar round about was represented the complete unition of Divine truth and Divine good, as well in the internal as in the external man; and by sprinkling the blood at the base of the altar was represented the unition of Divine truth and Divine good in the external man only.

[5] With the regenerate, conjunction is effected in the external man, according to the words of the Lord in John:

He that is washed needeth not save to be washed as to his feet, and is wholly clean (John 13:9-10).

“Washing” signifies purification and regeneration (n. 3147, 9089); thus “he that is washed” signifies one purified and regenerated; and the “feet” signify the natural or external of man (n. 2162, 3147, 4938-4952, 9406). That in the burnt-offerings blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about, may be seen in Leviticus 1:5, 11; also in the eucharistic sacrifices, Leviticus 3:2, 8, 13; and that in the sacrifices for guilt and for sin the blood was sprinkled at the base of the altar, Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9.

9406. And under His feet. That this signifies the ultimate sense which is the sense of the letter itself, is evident from the signification of “feet,” as being natural things (see n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952); thus the soles, which are under the feet, denote the ultimate things of nature. That “under the feet” here denotes the ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is because it is said of the Divine truth or Word, which is from the Lord, and which is the Lord, as can be seen from what goes before; and the ultimate of truth Divine, or the Word, is such as is the sense of the letter, which is natural, because for the natural man. That the sense of the letter contains within it an internal sense, which is relatively spiritual and celestial, is evident from all that has been hitherto shown about the Word. But the more worldly and bodily a man is, the less he apprehends this, because he does not suffer himself to be raised into spiritual light, and thereby to see what is the nature of the Word; namely, that in the letter it is natural, and in the internal sense spiritual; for the nature of lower things, down to ultimate ones, can be seen from the spiritual world, or from the light of heaven; but not the reverse (n. 9401); thus it can be seen that such is the Word in the letter.

[2] As the Word in the letter is natural, and by “the feet” are signified natural things, therefore the ultimate of the Word, like the ultimate of the church, is called “the place of the feet” of Jehovah, and also His “footstool,” and likewise relatively a “cloud” and “darkness;” as in Isaiah:

They shall open thy gates continually, to bring unto thee the army of the nations, and their kings shall be brought. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together; to adorn the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet honorable (Isaiah 60:11, 13).

The subject here treated of is the Lord, and His kingdom and church. By “the army of the nations” are meant those who are in the goods of faith; and by “kings,” those who are in the truths of faith. (That “nations” denote those who are in the goods of faith, see n. 1259, 1328, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005; and that “kings” denote those who are in truths, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148). “The glory of Lebanon,” or the cedar, denotes spiritual good and truth; “the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box,” denote the natural goods and truths that correspond; “the place of the sanctuary” denotes heaven and the church, and also the Word; “the place of the feet” denotes heaven, the church, and also the Word, in ultimates. The reason why the Word also is here signified, is that heaven is heaven from the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; in like manner the church; and the Divine truth which makes the church and heaven is the Word. Consequently also the inmost of the tent, where was the ark containing the law, is called “the sanctuary,” for the law is the Word (n. 6752).

[3] Again:

The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and adore ye toward His footstool; holy is He. Moses and Aaron among His priests. He spoke unto them in the pillar of cloud (Psalms 99:5-7).

“The footstool of Jehovah toward which they were to adore” denotes Divine truth in ultimates, thus the Word. That in the representative sense “Moses and Aaron” denote the Word, see n. 7089, 7382, 9373, 9374; and that a “cloud” denotes the Word in the letter, or Divine truth in ultimates, see the preface to Genesis 18 n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781; from which it is plain what is meant by “speaking in the pillar of cloud.”

[4] Again:

We heard of Him in Ephrathah; we found Him in the fields of the forest. We will enter into His tabernacles; we will bow down ourselves at His footstool (Psalms 132:6-7).

The subject here treated of is the Lord and the revelation of Himself in the Word; “to find Him in Ephrathah” denotes to do so in the spiritual celestial sense of the Word (n. 4585, 4594); “in the fields of the forest” denotes in the natural or literal sense of the Word (n. 3220, 9011); “the footstool” denotes the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, in ultimates.

[5] Again:

Jehovah bowed the heaven, and thick darkness was under His feet. He made darkness His hiding place, darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. At the brightness before Him His clouds passed (Psalms 18:9, 11-12).

The subject here treated of is the coming and presence of the Lord in the Word; “thick darkness under His feet” denotes the sense of the letter of the Word; in like manner “darkness of waters and clouds of the heavens.” That nevertheless the Divine truth, such as it is in the heavens, is in this sense is signified by “making darkness His hiding place;” and that at the presence of the Lord the internal sense appears in its glory, such as it is in heaven, is signified by “His clouds passing at the brightness before Him.”

In Nahum:

The way of Jehovah is in the storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nah. 1:3); where also “the clouds” denote the Word in the sense of the letter, which also is “the storm and tempest in which is the way of Jehovah.”

[6] When truth Divine, such as it is in heaven, shines through with a man from the very sense of the letter, then this sense is described by “feet whose brightness is like that of burnished brass”; as also in Daniel:

I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. His body also was like a beryl, and His face as the face of lightning, and His eyes as torches of fire, His arms and His feet like the shining of burnished brass, and the voice of His words like the voice of a crowd (Daniel 10:5-6); where by “a man clothed in linen” is meant in the supreme sense the Lord, and because the Lord is meant, the Divine truth that is from Him is also meant, for the Divine truth that is from the Lord is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the church; truth Divine, or the Lord in ultimates, is meant by “arms and feet like the shining of burnished brass;” and also by “the voice of his words like the voice of a crowd.” In like manner in Ezekiel 1:7.

[7] The successive states of the church on this earth in respect to the reception of the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord are also meant by the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar; in Daniel:

The head of the image was gold, his breast and his arms silver, his belly and thighs brass, his legs iron, his feet part iron and part clay, which did not cohere. And a stone out of the rock broke in pieces the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold (Daniel 2:32-35, 43).

The first state of the church in respect to the reception of the truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord is the “gold,” because by “gold” is signified celestial good, which is the good of love to the the Lord, (n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 8932); the second state is signified by the “silver,” which denotes spiritual good, which is the good of faith in the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor (see n. 1551, 2954, 5658, 7999); the third state is signified by the “brass,” which denotes natural good (n. 425, 1551); and the fourth state by the “iron,” which denotes natural truth (n. 425, 426); the “clay” denotes falsity which does not cohere with truth and good. That “a stone out of the rock broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold” signifies that the church perishes in respect to the reception of truth from the Word, when falsity and evil are confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word, as is the case when the church is in its last state, when it is no longer in any heavenly love, but only in worldly and bodily love. Such was the Word in respect to its reception among the Jewish nation when the Lord came into the world; and such is the Word with many at this day, insomuch that it is not even known that there is anything internal in the Word; and if it were to be said that there is, and its nature were to be told, it would not be received; when yet in the most ancient times, which were signified by “gold,” nothing else was seen in the sense of the letter of the Word than what is heavenly, almost abstractedly from the letter. From all this it can now be seen that by “the God of Israel” as seen “under His feet” is signified the Word in the ultimate sense, which is the sense of the letter.