9713. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-8 And you shall make the altar from shittim wood, five cubits the length and five cubits the breadth; square shall the altar be, and three cubits its height. And you shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it ¹ , and you shall overlay it with bronze. And you shall make its pans to take away its ashes, and shovels, and its basins, and its forks, and its tongs; all its vessels you shall make of bronze. ² And you shall make for it a grating, a network, from bronze; and on the net you shall make four rings of bronze, on the four ends of it. And you shall put it under the rim of the altar beneath, and the net shall reach down to the middle of the altar. And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of shittim wood, and overlay them with bronze. And its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ³ A boarded hollow you shall make it; as it has appeared to you on the mountain, so they shall make [it].

'And you shall make the altar' means that which was representative of the Lord and of the worship of Him. 'From shittim wood' means righteousness. 'Five cubits the length and five cubits the breadth' means that which consists equally of good and of truth. 'Square shall the altar be' means that which for this reason is righteous. 'And three cubits its height' means what is complete so far as degrees are concerned. 'And you shall make its horns' means power. 'On its four corners' means every aspect of it. 'The horns shall be of one piece with it' means that the power must come from good. 'And you shall overlay it with bronze' means a representative sign of the good. 'And you shall make its pans to take away its ashes' means the removers of things which have served their purpose. 'And shovels, and basins, and its forks, and its tongs' means known facts that act as containers and serve every purpose. 'All its vessels you shall make of bronze' means that they must all be formed from good. 'And you shall make for it a grating, a network' means the level of sensory perception, which is the last and lowest. 'From bronze' means that this too must be formed from good. 'And on the net you shall make four rings of bronze' means the sphere of good by means of which a joining together is accomplished. 'On the four ends of it' means everywhere. 'And you shall put it under the rim of the altar beneath' means that sensory perception on the last and lowest levels. 'And the net shall reach down to the middle of the altar' means the extent of sensory perception. 'And you shall make poles for the altar' means the power to hold something in a state of good. 'Poles of shittim wood' means the good of righteousness, [and the power derived from this good.] 'And overlay them with bronze' means a representative sign of the good. 'And its poles shall be put into the rings' means the power of the sphere of Divine Good. 'And the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar' means the power of good imparted through truth, ⁴ and that of the truth which springs from the good. 'When it is carried' means bringing into being and keeping in being. 'A boarded hollow you shall make it' means the suitableness. 'As it has appeared to you on the mountain, so they shall make [it]' means in keeping with the correspondence of Divine realities in heaven.

脚注:

9503. 'And you shall put into the ark the Testimony' means Divine Truth, which is the Lord in heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ark' as heaven, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'the Testimony' as Divine Truth, thus the Lord in heaven, dealt with below. The reason why Divine Truth is the Lord in heaven is that the Lord is Goodness itself and Truth itself, for both emanate from Him and He Himself composes what emanates from Him. So it is that the Lord is heaven, for Divine Truth which emanates from Him and is received by the angels makes heaven. Consequently the more perfect the manner in which angels receive Divine Truth that comes from the Lord and accordingly receive the Lord, the more perfect the human forms they possess. Eventually they become so perfect that their beauty surpasses belief; anyone who sees them, as I have done, will be dumbfounded. For in their outward form angels are manifestations of heavenly love and charity, and that is the truly human form. The reason why angels possess human forms is that the Divine in heaven is the Lord, and those who receive Divine Truth within good from Him are images of Him.

[2] As regards the meaning of 'the Testimony', a distinction is drawn in the Word between laws, statutes, judgements, commandments, testimonies, words, commands, truths, and covenants, as may be recognized from a number of places, especially in David's Psalms 119, where all these terms occur, testimonies doing so in verses 2, 14, 31, 46, 59, 88, 99, 111, 119, 125, 138, 144, 168. A like distinction occurs elsewhere in the same author,

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple; the commands of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes; the judgements of Jehovah are truth, they are righteous altogether. Psalms 19:7-9.

The like occurs in Moses, at Deuteronomy 4:45; 6:17, 20; also in Jeremiah 44:23; and many times elsewhere. From all this it may be recognized that 'the Testimony' means Divine Truth, which testifies of the Lord, and so means the Word. For in the highest sense of the Word the only subject is the Lord, and this is why the internal sense testifies of Him, that is, contains teachings about Him and about the truths of faith and forms of the good of love which He is the source of. 'Testimony' is again used with this meaning in the Book of Revelation,

... those who had been killed on account of the Word of God and on account of the testimony which they had. Revelation 6:9.

And elsewhere,

They conquered the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. Revelation 12:11.

'The blood of the Lamb' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, 7846, 7877, 9127, 9393, while 'the word of their testimony' is Divine Truth received by man. 'Testimony' is used with the same meaning at Revelation 12:17; 19:10.

[3] The fact that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is called 'the Testimony' because it testifies of the Lord is clear from the Lord's own words in John,

He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, that He testifies. He who receives His testimony has set his seal [to this], that God is truthful. John 3:31-33.

In the same gospel,

I am One who testifies of Myself; and He, the Father, who sent Me testifies of Me. John 8:18.

In the same gospel,

Search the Scriptures; and it is they that testify of Me. John 5:39.

And in the same gospel,

The Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, He will testify of Me. John 15:26-27.

From all this it is clear that Divine Truth is called the Testimony because it testifies of the Lord. This Divine Truth is the Word, for as stated above, the only subject in the highest sense of the Word is the Lord; this is what makes the Word Divine and therefore what makes it holy. Furthermore the Ten Words or the Law which were declared from Mount Sinai, inscribed on two tablets [of stone], and stored in the ark, is what is here called the Testimony. For that Law means the Word or Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, in its entirety, see 9416. It is evident from the Lord's own words to Pilate that He is the One from whom Divine Truth comes,

Pilate said, Are you a king? Jesus answered, You say [it, because] I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, that I may bear testimony to the truth. John 18:37.

'A king' in the internal sense means Divine Truth, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148. This was why the Lord said, 'I am a King' and, 'For this I was born, that I may bear testimony to the truth', that is, that He Himself is Divine Truth. From all this it is now evident that 'the Testimony' in the ark means Divine Truth and so the Lord in heaven.