10687. 'And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant' means the Word, through which heaven is joined to a person. This is clear from the meaning of 'the tablets', on which the Law has been written, as the Word, dealt with in 9416, 10375, 10376, 10453, 10461; and from the meaning of 'the covenant' as a joining together, dealt with in the places referred to above in 10632. The reason why the joining of heaven to a person is meant is that pure correspondences were used when the Word was written, which makes it such that it joins heaven to a person. Heaven is conscious of the internal sense of the Word, to which sense the external sense corresponds; when therefore a person reads the Word the angels present with the person perceive its spiritual meaning, which is the internal sense. As a consequence of this a holy influence is received from the angels, which leads to a joining together; and it is with that end in view that a Word such as this has been given. Regarding the truth that the Lord, and so heaven, is joined to a person through the Word, see in the places referred to in 10375. As for what the correspondences are of which the written Word consists, this has been shown wherever explanations have been provided.

8410. 'Eating bread to the full!' means that in that situation they enjoyed the good of lower pleasures, as much as they wished to have. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, dealt with in 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 4745, and also as enjoyment, 7849; from the meaning of 'bread' as the good of heavenly life, and in the contrary sense the good of natural life separated from heavenly, thus the good of lower pleasures (in the spiritual sense 'bread' means the chief thing that nourishes the soul and maintains its spiritual life, that chief thing being the good of love, as heaven's life demonstrates, which consists wholly of that good. But in the contrary sense 'bread' is used to mean the chief thing that nourishes those in hell and sustains their life, that chief thing being the evil of self-love and love of the world, as hell's life demonstrates, which consists wholly in that evil. To those in hell that evil is good, for to them nothing is more delightful or sweeter; and it is this that is meant here by the good of lower pleasures); and from the meaning of 'to the full' as, as much as they wished to have, since the will is what is filled with good if people are good, or with evil if they are evil.