10691. 'That Moses did not know that the skin of his face gleamed while he talked to Him' means the inward level or aspect of the Word within the outward, shining forth without any perception of it by the outward. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the outward form of the Word containing what is inward, dealt with in 10563, 10571, 10607, 10614; from the meaning of 'not knowing' as not perceiving; from the meaning of 'gleaming' as shining forth, for the gleaming of the skin of Moses' face is a shining forth from what is inward; from the meaning of 'the skin' as the outward level of truth and good, dealt with in 3540, 5554, 8980; from the meaning of 'face' as interior things, dealt with in the places referred to 9546, so that 'the gleaming of the skin of the face' means a shining forth of the interior things within what is external or outward, at this point within the outward form the Word takes, which is its literal sense, since Moses represents the outward form of the Word containing what is inward; and from the meaning of 'talking' as influx, for 'talking', when it has regard to Jehovah, means influx, see 2951, 5743, 5797, 7270, 8128, 8660. From all this it is evident that 'Moses did not know that the skin of his face gleamed while he talked to Him' means the inward level of the Word within the outward, shining forth without any perception of it by the outward. It should be recognized that by a shining forth of the interiors of the Word within what is outward the internal sense within the external should be understood. The internal sense shines forth unceasingly and gleams within the external, yet it is discerned only by those whose affection is for inward things. It is not discerned by those whose affection is for the outward that contains what is inward, that is, by those people who are called members of the external Church. Nevertheless that sense is present with them, without their awareness, and exerts an influence on them. Who exactly they are whose affection is for the inward level or aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship, and who exactly they are whose affection is for the outward level or aspect of them that has the inward within it, see above in 10683. But when people's interest lies in the outward level devoid of the inward, as was so with the Israelite nation, they cannot at all abide the inward level of them or the light from them within the outward. This explains why in the verses that follow it says that they were afraid to approach Moses and that when Moses talked to them he put a veil over his face. The reason why the internal sense shines forth is that Divine Truth as it exists in the heavens resides in that sense, and Divine Truth emanating from the Lord appears to angels as light and also constitutes the light of heaven. For this matter, see in the places referred to in 9548, 9684.

10607. 'And no one shall come up with you' means that the Israelite nation is incapable of standing in Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'not coming up', in this instance of not coming up with Moses onto Mount Sinai, as not going into heaven from which Divine Truth is revealed, thus as being incapable of standing in Divine Truth. For 'Mount Sinai' means heaven, from which the revelation of Divine Truth comes, see 8805, 8931, 9420, 10605; and 'Moses' represents the outward form taken by the Church, worship, and the Word, which is where Divine Truth is received. The fact that the Israelite nation is meant is self-evident, for the prohibitions 'no one shall come up with you' and 'no one shall be seen on all the mountain' refer to members of that nation.

[2] The fact that 'Moses' at this point represents the outward form taken by the Word, the Church, and worship, which is where Divine Truth is received, is clear from all the details in the present chapter, such as these:

1. The requirement that Moses should go up onto Mount Sinai and stand there at the top of it, and that the people should be moved back from it.

2. Jehovah's talking to Moses, in the verses that follow, as if He were doing so only to him and not to the people ¹ - All the people in whose midst you are will see that this is a marvel which I am doing with you, verse 10. Observe that which I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from your face, verse 11. Take care, lest by chance you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land onto which you come, verse 12. You shall not bow down to any other god, verse 14. Lest by chance you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they call you, and you eat of their sacrifice, verse 15. You are not to take their daughters for your sons, verse 16. And so on in verses after these.

3. The gleaming of the skin on Moses' face, described later on in this chapter, and the people's fear to approach him, so that he put a veil over his face whenever he talked to the people.

[3] From all these details it is evident that in the present chapter Moses represents the outward form taken by the Word, the Church, and worship, which is where Divine Truth is received and so is that through which the Divine Truth within shines out. The fact that Moses represents that outward form and not what it holds within it is likewise evident from all the details in the present chapter, such as the reference to Jehovah's descending in the cloud and His standing with him (for 'the cloud means the outward form which the Word takes) and then His commanding him what the external observances of the Church and worship were to be, but not what the internal ones were. Something similarly external or outward was represented by Moses in the previous chapter, as is evident in verses 7-11 and verses 17-23, see 10563, 10571. But an external unreceptive of anything internal existed among the Israelite nation.

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