8497. 'And all that is left over put aside for yourselves to keep until the morning' means the enjoyment of all goodness and truth then as if from what was their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting aside what is left over till the morning' as enjoyment on the sabbath day, the reason why the enjoyment of goodness and truth is meant being that they were to put aside what was left over from the things they baked and boiled and to eat it on that day ('baking' means the preparation of good, and 'boiling' the preparation of truth, as has been shown immediately above in 8496, and 'eating' means enjoying and making one's own, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 4745, 7849); and from the meaning of 'for yourselves to keep' as, as if it - the enjoyment - was from what was their own. The reason why these things are meant by those words is that goodness and truth which flow in from the Lord are joined together and so to speak made the person's own. This is what the joining of heaven, that is, of those in heaven, to the Lord is like. The words 'as if from what was their own' are used because the good of faith and charity can never be imparted to man or angel to be actually his own, for men and angels are merely recipients, or forms properly adjusted to receive life from the Lord, and so goodness and truth from Him. True life comes from no other source; and since life comes from the Lord it cannot be more than what seems to be a person's own. Those who abide in the Lord however clearly perceive that life flows in, consequently that goodness and truth do so since these are contained in that life. The reason why life seems to be a person's own is that in His Divine Love the Lord wishes to impart and join to a person all that is His, and so far as it can be done He does join it. What is then the person's own, yet is imparted to him by the Lord, is called a heavenly self or proprium, see 731, 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891, 3812 (end), 5660.

3832. 'And made a feast' means the introduction. This is clear from the meaning of 'a feast' as making one's own and being joined to, dealt with in 3596. Here it is the introduction, for this precedes the joining together, and is a pledge and witness to it. The feasts which were held in early times by people among whom meaningful signs and representatives existed meant nothing else than the introduction into the mutual love which is the essence of charity. Wedding feasts meant the introduction into conjugial love, and sacred feasts the introduction into spiritual and celestial love, the reason being that 'feasting' or eating and drinking meant making one's own and becoming joined to, as shown in 3596.

[2] This being the meaning of 'feasts' the Lord also spoke in the same vein,

Many will come from the east and from the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11.

And elsewhere He said to the disciples,

That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom. Luke 22:30.

And when He instituted the Holy Supper He said,

I tell you that I shall not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom. Matthew 26:29.

Anyone may see that 'reclining', 'eating', and 'drinking' in the Lord's kingdom do not mean reclining, eating, and drinking, but the kind of thing that exists in that kingdom; that is to say, these experiences are used to mean making the good of love and the truth of faith one's own, and so to mean that which is called spiritual food and celestial food. The quotations given above also show plainly that there is an internal sense within words spoken by the Lord, and that without an understanding of that sense one cannot know what is meant by reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by eating and drinking at the Lord's table in His kingdom, and by drinking of the fruit of the vine with them in the Father's kingdom. Nor indeed can one know what is meant by eating bread and drinking wine in the Holy Supper.