10054. It is an odor of rest. That this signifies perceptivity of peace, is evident from the signification of “odor,” as being perceptivity (see n. 3577, 4624-4634, 4748); and from the signification of “rest,” as being peace. (What Divine peace is in the heavens, see n. 92, 93, 2780, 5662, 8455, 8665, 8722; also that in the supreme sense “peace” denotes the Lord, and the Divine proceeding from Him affecting with good in the heavens from the inmost, n. 3780, 8517.) The burnt-offering is called “an odor of rest to Jehovah,” because by the burnt offering was represented the unition of the Divine Human of the Lord with the Divine Itself (see above n. 10053); and through this unition peace was acquired in the heavens; for all the hells were subjugated by the Lord when He was in the world, and all the heavens were reduced into order (n. 9715, 9809, 9937, 10019). From this it is plain whence it is that the burnt-offering is called “an odor of rest to Jehovah,” as in many other places where the burnt-offerings and the meat-offerings are treated of (Leviticus 1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5; 4:31; 6:6, 15; 8:28 23:13, 1 23:18; Numbers 15:3, 7, 13; 28:6, 8, 13; 29:2, 6, 13).

9472. And shittim wood. That this signifies the goods of merit which are from the Lord and thus of the Lord alone, is evident from the signification of “wood,” as being the good of merit (see n. 1110, 2784, 2812, 4943, 8740). The good of merit is the good that proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord, which is Christian good, or spiritual good with man. It is this good by which man is saved; for good which proceeds from any other source is not good, because the Divine is not in it, thus neither is heaven in it, consequently salvation is not in it. Shittim wood was the wood of the most excellent cedar; and by the “cedar” is signified the spiritual of the church. That shittim wood was a species of cedar, is evident in Isaiah:

I will set in the wilderness the cedar of Shittah, and the myrtle, and the wood of oil (Isaiah 41:19); where “the cedar of Shittah” denotes spiritual good, and “the wood of oil” celestial good. As the good of merit that belongs to the Lord alone is the only good that reigns in heaven, and that makes heaven, therefore this wood was the only wood employed in the construction of the tabernacle (by which heaven was represented); as for instance for the ark itself, in which was the testimony; for its staves; for the table upon which were the breads of faces, and its staves; for the planks of the Habitation; for the bars and pillars of the covering; and also for the altar and its staves; as is evident from verses 10-13, 23, 28 of this chapter; from verses 15-26, 37 of the following chapter; and verses 1 and 6 of chapter 27.