9841. 'And you shall take two shoham stones' means the interior memory formed from the truths of faith that spring from love. This is clear from the meaning of 'stones' as truths, dealt with in 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, and of 'shoham stones' as the truths of faith springing from love, 9476. The reason why the memory is meant by these stones is that the names of the sons of Israel were engraved on them and an engraving on stones means a memory composed of real things which are to remain there permanently. The engraving or inscription of the Law on tablets of stone for example means those things which have been imprinted on a person's memory and life and which for this reason are to remain there permanently, see 9416 (end). The engraving or inscription on stones has this meaning because the human memory has truths imprinted on it, also ideas that have the appearance of truth, so much so that it is fashioned from them. Stones furthermore mean truths, and when an engraving on them is mentioned a memory where truths reside is meant, as is meant by 'the engraving on the hands' in Isaiah,

Even though they may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you upon [My] hands. Isaiah 49:15-16.

This explains why those stones are called 'stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel' in verse 12 below.

[2] The reason why the interior memory is meant by 'the shoham stones', on account of the engraving on them, is that even as the inscriptions, which were the names of the sons of Israel, mean spiritual truths, regarding which, see what follows below, and also the actual stones mean spiritual truths, so a person's interior memory must consist of such truths. For a person has two memories, exterior and interior; the exterior memory is natural, shaped therefore by such things as occur in the world, whereas the interior memory is spiritual, shaped by such as occur in heaven, see 2469-2494, 5212, 8067.

[3] The meaning of stones with engraving on them as the [interior] memory on which truths have been inscribed has its origin in representatives in heaven. People who enter the next life after death, bringing with them truths of faith that are present solely in the natural or exterior memory, and not in the spiritual or interior memory, seem to themselves when they go out to be wandering about among stony rocks and in forests. But those bringing with them truths of faith present in the spiritual memory as well seem to themselves when they go out to be walking among cultivated hills and also in gardens. The reason for this is that truths present in the exterior or natural memory, where they exist as known facts, are not at all part of life unless they are present at the same time in the interior or spiritual memory, for the truths present in this memory have become part of life, the interior or spiritual memory being the book of a person's life, 2474; and the things that compose life are represented in heaven by gardens, olive groves, and vineyards, and by rose beds and lawns, and those that compose charity by the hills where such places are situated, 6435. Those however which do not compose life are represented by stony places and thickets which are bare and rugged.

[4] What the truths of faith that spring from love are must also be stated briefly. Truths of faith springing from love are ones which love dictates, and so ones which derive their very being from love; in those truths there is life, because whatever springs from love has life in it. Truths of faith springing from love therefore are those which are directly concerned with love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, these being the truths which love dictates. The whole Word consists of teachings that present such truths, for in its spiritual sense the Word deals solely with such things as have to do with the Lord and such as have to do with the neighbour, thus such things as have to do with love to the Lord and towards the neighbour. For this reason the Word too has life in it. This is what is meant by the statement 'on these two commandments the Law and the Prophets depend', Matthew 22:38, 40, 'the Law and the Prophets' being the Word in its entirety. The truths of faith springing from love however do not consist in a bare knowledge of such truths that resides in a person's memory and consequently in his understanding. Rather they are affections inherently present in the person's life; for what a person loves and therefore does is inherently present in his life. There are also truths of faith which are not directly concerned with love, but merely lend support closely or remotely to those which are directly concerned with it. These truths of faith are called secondary truths. For the truths of faith are like families and their successive generations coming down from one and the same father. The father of those truths is the good of love, received from the Lord and consequently offered to Him. Thus their father is the Lord, for whether you say the Lord or love received from Him and consequently offered to Him, it amounts to the same thing. Love is spiritual togetherness and causes Him to be where that love is; for assuredly love causes the one who is loved to be present within itself.

1298. 'They had brick for stone' means that they had falsity in place of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'brick' as falsity, dealt with just above, and also from the meaning of 'stone' in the broad sense as truth, dealt with already in 643. The reason 'stones' meant truth was that the most ancient people used to mark out boundaries by means of stones and raise up stones to testify that something was so, that is, was the truth. This is clear from the stone which Jacob set up as a pillar, Genesis 28:22; 35:14; from the pillar of stones placed between Laban and Jacob, Genesis 31:46-47, 52; and from the altar which the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh erected beside the Jordan as an altar of witness, Joshua 22:10, 28, 34. Consequently 'stones' in the Word means truths, so much so that not only the stones of the altar but also the precious stones in the shoulder-pieces of Aaron's ephod and in the breastplate of judgement meant the holy truths of love.

[2] Regarding the altar, when sacrificial worship on altars was introduced, an altar in that case meant representative worship of the Lord in general. 'The stones' themselves however meant the holy truths belonging to that worship. This was why it was commanded that the altar had to be built of whole and not of hewn stones, and why it was forbidden to use any iron tool on them, Deuteronomy 27:5-7; Joshua 8:31. The reason was that hewn stones, and those on which an iron tool had been used, meant artificialities and thus fabrications in worship. That is to say, they meant things that derive from the proprium, or from the inventions of man's own thought and heart, which was to profane worship, as is clearly stated in Exodus 20:25. For the same reason no tool of iron was used on the stones of the Temple, 1 Kings 6:7.

[3] That the precious stones set in the shoulder-pieces of Aaron's ephod and in the breastplate of judgement in a similar way meant holy truths has been shown already in 114. This is clear also in Isaiah,

Behold, I will set your stones in carbuncle and lay your foundations in sapphires; and I will make your suns (windows) of ruby, and your gates into precious stones, and all your border into pleasant stones And all your sons will be taught by Jehovah, and great will be the peace of your sons. Isaiah 54:11-13

The stones mentioned here stand for holy truths, and this is why it is said that 'all your sons will be taught by Jehovah'. It is also the reason why it is said in John that the foundations of the wall of the city, holy Jerusalem, were adorned with every kind of precious stone, which are each mentioned by name, Revelation 21:19-20. 'The holy Jerusalem' stands for the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, the foundations of which kingdom are holy truths. Holy truths were similarly meant by the tables of stone on which the commandments of the Law, or Ten Commandments, were written. This was why they were made of stone or had a stone base, concerning which see Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deuteronomy 5:22; 10:1; for the commandments themselves are nothing else than truths of faith.

[4] Now because stones in ancient times meant truths, and because later on when worship on pillars, on altars, and in the Temple began, pillars, altars, and the Temple meant holy truths, the Lord also is therefore called 'a Stone': In Moses,

The Mighty One of Jacob - from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Genesis 49:24.

In Isaiah,

The Lord Jehovih said, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tested Corner-Stone, precious, of sure foundation. Isaiah 28:16.

In David,

The Stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner Psalms 118:22.

The same is meant in Daniel 2:34-35, 45, by the stone cut out of the rock which smashed Nebuchadnezzar's statue to pieces.

[5] That 'stones' means truths is clear in Isaiah,

By this the iniquity of Jacob will be expiated, and this will be the full fruit to remove his sin, when He makes all the stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about. Isaiah 27:9.

'The stones of the altar' stands for truths in worship that have been dissipated. In the same prophet,

Make level the way of the people; level out, level out the highway; gather out the stones. Isaiah 62:10.

'The way' and 'the stones' stand for truths. In Jeremiah,

I am against you, O destroying mountain. I will roll you down from the rocks and I will make you into a mountain of burning. And they will not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. Jeremiah 51:25-26.

This refers to Babel. 'A mountain of burning' is self-love. 'Taking no stone from it' means that there is no truth from this source.