10188. 'And two rings of gold you shall make for it under the rim' means the sphere of Divine Good by means of which a joining together and preservation are effected. This is clear from the meaning of 'two' as a joining together, dealt with in 5194, 8423; from the meaning of 'rings' as a Divine sphere, dealt with in 9498, 9501; from the meaning of 'gold' as good, dealt with in 9874, 9881; and from the meaning of 'the rim' as a border serving to defend from the approach of evils and the harm these can do, dealt with immediately above in 10187. From these meanings it is evident that 'two rings of gold under the rim' means the sphere of Divine Good by means of which a joining together is effected. The reason why a preservation is also meant is that the poles were inserted into the rings and then served to carry [the altar], and 'carrying' means preserving, 9900.

[2] What the sphere of Divine Good is must be stated briefly here. The sphere of Divine Good fills the whole of heaven, and also extends into hell; for it is like the sphere of the sun's heat in the world, which in summer reaches even into dark places where the sun does not appear. That Divine sphere was likened by the ancients to circles of radiating light which had God in the middle of them and angels round about. Those therefore who allow themselves to be led by the Lord, and so who receive what is Divine from Him, are in the sphere of Divine Good, to the extent that they are receptive. Those however who are not receptive are, it is true, in that same sphere; but their interiors are closed off, to such an extent that they are insensitive to its influx. For the attention of those in hell is fixed on things of an external nature and not on those of an internal nature. From these external things furthermore evils and consequent falsities emanate, which as they appear around those spirits look like a pall of smoke from a furnace. As a consequence of this the external sphere of Divine Good there loses its effectiveness, while the internal sphere nevertheless remains. Though they are unreceptive of this sphere because the way for it to come in has been closed, the Lord nevertheless rules the hells by means of it.

[3] The reason why it is the sphere of Divine Good that emanates from the Lord is that the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, is God's love; for that is how this love manifests itself there. The heat radiating from it is the good of love, while the light radiating from it is the truth of faith. This is why in the Word the sun is used to mean God's love, its fire and heat being the good of love, and its light the truth of faith.

[4] Furthermore from each individual angel there emanates a sphere from his love, as there does also from each good or bad spirit, in keeping with their loves, though the spheres emanating from them do not extend very far. But the Divine sphere extends through all creation, for it emanates from what is inmost, and what is inmost is the all in all of the things that go out in order from it.

Regarding spheres, see what has been shown previously, in part from experience as well, in 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1512, 1695, 2401, 4464, 5179, 6206(end), 6598-6613, 7454, 8063, 8630, 8794, 8797, 9490-9492, 9498, 9499, 9534, 9606, 9607.

10187. 'And you shall make [for it] a rim of gold round about' means a border of good, serving to defend them from the approach of evils and the harm these can do. This is clear from the meaning of 'a rim' as a border serving to defend and from the approach of evils and the harm these can do, dealt with in 9492; and from the meaning of 'gold' as good, dealt with in 9874, 9881. The reason why the rim was made from gold was that it represented an enclosing band of good; for good cannot be approached by evils, indeed evils cannot by any means abide a sphere of good. When evils, or rather those who are steeped in evils, that is, those who come from hell, enter that sphere, which is a heavenly sphere, they experience dreadful pain. The further they go into that sphere, the more they inwardly undergo hellish torments, and as a consequence become like those lying in the throes of death. Therefore they hurl themselves straightaway into hell and do not dare any longer to raise their head. This is the reason why those in heaven are protected from molestation by evils that come from hell. This is how to understand Abraham's words to the rich man in hell,

Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass across from here to you cannot, nor can those who are there pass across to us. Luke 16:26.

Also the following words,

They will say to the mountains and rocks, Rush down on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb. Revelation 6:16; Hosea 10:8.

But as regards truth, this can be approached by those who are evil, because the evil pervert truths by means of wrong interpretations, and so use them to support their evil desires. But to the extent that good is present within truths, truths cannot be approached. This shows what [little] protection those in the next life can have with whom solely truths, called the truths of faith, are present and not good at the same time. By good, charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord should be understood, since these are the source of all good.

From all this it is now evident why a rim of gold was made round about the walls of the altar of incense.