9653. 'And for the two legs of the dwelling-place towards the sea' means a joining to heaven where good dwells in obscurity. This is clear from the meaning of 'two' as a joining together, as above in 9645; from the meaning of 'the legs' as the borders where good dwindles into obscurity, dealt with in 7859; from the meaning of 'the dwelling-place' as heaven, dealt with in 9594; and from the meaning of the west or 'the sea' as a state of good in obscurity, dealt with in 3708, 8615. This state is meant by 'the west' because the Lord in respect of the good of love is meant by 'the sun', 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 7078, 7083, 7171, 8644, 8812. Therefore 'the east' where the sun rises means the good of love from the Lord where the perception of it is clear, and 'the west' where the sun goes down means good from Him where the perception of it is obscure. And since a person's and an angel's perception is clear when they have been raised towards more internal parts or into the light of heaven, and their perception is obscure when they remain in more external parts, 9648, thus when they remain in the light of the world, the west is also called the sea. For 'the sea' means factual knowledge in general, 28, 2850, and factual knowledge resides in the external or natural man, where good lies in obscurity. All factual knowledge, since it belongs to the natural man, dwells in the light of the world.

8615. 'Until the going down of the sun' means when that state was coming to an end, that is to say, the state of conflict with falsity arising from interior evil. This is clear from the consideration that the times of day from sunrise to sunset, and again to sunrise, mean the changes of state which those who are in the next life undergo. The end of that state is meant by the time when the sun is going down. So it is that 'until the going down of the sun' means when that state was coming to an end. For the meaning of the times of day from sunrise to sunset as states and changes of them, see 5672, 5962, 6110, 8426.

[2] Anyone who ponders over them can see that the matters recorded in these verses contain arcana which are not visible in the letter, such as that Moses was going to stand on the hill, having the rod in his hand; that Joshua was winning whenever Moses raised up his hands, and Amalek was winning whenever Moses let down his hands; that they put a stone under him, which he sat on, and Aaron and Hur supported his hands; and that this continued until the sun was going down. Unless every single one of these matters had corresponded to things in heaven they could not have contributed in any way at all to the battle against Amalek. Correspondences have absolute force, so great that what is done on earth in accordance with correspondences has force in heaven; for correspondences have their origin in the Divine.

[3] When people are governed by the good of love and faith, such correspondence exists with them. The Divine composes everything residing with them, for the Divine is the source of the good of love and the good of faith. All the miracles referred to in the Word were accomplished through correspondences. The Word has been written in such a way that all the details there, even the smallest, correspond to things in heaven. Consequently the Word has Divine force; it links together heaven and earth. For when the Word is read on earth the angels in heaven are stirred by the holiness contained in the internal sense. This happens because of the correspondences that all the details possess there.