9488. 'And a cubit and a half its breadth' means what is complete so far as truth is concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'one and a half' as what is complete, the reason why this number means what is complete being that 'three' has this meaning (for the half of a number is similar in meaning to the whole number, because a number that results from multiplication keeps the same meaning as a simple number of which it is the product through multiplication, 5291, 5335. Regarding 'three', that it means what is complete, see 2788, 7715, 9198; and that all numbers in the Word mean spiritual realities, 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973); and from the meaning of 'breadth' as truth, dealt with immediately above in 9487.

9874. 'Enclosed in gold shall they be in their settings' means that all of them in general and each in particular must emanate from the good belonging to the love that is received from the Lord and shown to the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510; and from the meaning of 'being enclosed in it in their settings' as emanating from that good. For every single stone was surrounded by and so enclosed in gold, and since 'gold' means the good of love what is enclosed means that which exists or emanates from that good. The like is meant in verse 11 of the present chapter by the sockets of gold which surrounded the two shoham stones placed on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod.

[2] The implications of all this are that the breastplate and its twelve stones represented every good and truth in the heavens and so represented all heaven, as shown above. Moreover not only the heavens but also every community in the heavens, indeed each angel within a community, is surrounded by a Divine sphere, which consists of Divine Good and Truth emanating from the Lord, see where this is dealt with in 9490-9492, 9498, 9499, 9534. And since the good and truth of this sphere is received by the angels, so also every single thing present with them emanates from there; for each angel is heaven in the smallest form it takes. The actual good emanating from the Lord is what the gold around the stones and enclosing them represents.

[3] The truth that this good is the good of love that is received from the Lord and shown to the Lord may be recognized from the consideration that all good belongs to love, for what a person loves he calls good and also feels to be such. From this it is evident that heavenly good is the good of love to the Lord, for this love is what joins angel and man to the Lord; through this love they are brought to Him and enjoy all the good of heaven. It is well known in the Church that this good comes from the Lord, for the teaching of the Church is that all good originates in God and none at all in oneself. From this it is evident that the good of love shown to the Lord must come from the Lord, and that good from any other source is not good.

1988. 'Abram was a son of ninety-nine years' means the period of time before the Lord fully joined the Internal Man to the Rational Man. This is clear from the meaning of 'nine' when thought of as one less than ten, or what amounts to the same, of 'ninety-nine' when thought of as one less than a hundred; for when Isaac was born to him Abram was a hundred years old. The nature of the internal sense of the Word is made especially clear by the numbers that are used, as it is by the names. Any numbers whatever, as also any names, that are mentioned in the Word mean real things; for nothing ever exists in the Word that does not have that which is Divine within it, that is, which does not have an internal sense within it. How remote this sense is from the sense of the letter is especially evident from the names and numbers, for in heaven they pay no attention whatever to names and numbers but to things meant by the names or numbers. For example, whenever the number seven occurs, holiness instantly suggests itself to angels instead of the number seven, for 'seven' means holiness from the fact that the celestial man is the seventh day or the sabbath, and so the Lord's rest, 84-87, 395, 433, 716, 881. The same applies to all other numbers, for example, to the number twelve. Whenever twelve occurs the idea of everything belonging to faith suggests itself to angels, for the reason that the twelve tribes of Israel meant everything belonging to faith, 577. That numbers mean real things in the Word has been shown in Volume One; see 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893.

[2] It is similar with the number 'ninety-nine'. That this number means the period of time before the Lord fully joined the Internal Man to the Rational Man is clear from the meaning of 'a hundred years', Abram's age when Isaac was born to him, for Isaac represents and means the Lord's Rational Man which was joined to His Internal, that is, to the Divine. In the Word 'a hundred' has the same meaning as ten, for that number is the product of ten multiplied by ten, and 'ten' means remnants, as shown in Volume One, in 576. For what remnants residing with man are, see 468, 530, 561, 660, 1050, and for what remnants residing with the Lord were, 1906. These arcana cannot be explained any further, but anyone can find out for himself once he has acquainted himself with what remnants are - for nowadays what they are is not known - provided it is realized that by remnants residing with the Lord are meant the Divine Goods which He acquired to Himself by His own power, and by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.

[3] These considerations show what is meant by 'ninety-nine'. Being one less than a hundred, that number means the period of time before the Lord fully joined the Internal Man to the Rational Man. 'Ishmael' represented the first rational with the Lord, the nature of which has been shown adequately enough above in the previous chapter. But 'Isaac' represents the Lord's Divine Rational, as will be clear later on. Anyone may see that an arcanum is embodied within the following circumstance: Abram having remained such a long time in the land of Canaan - twenty-four years now, ten before Ishmael's birth, and thirteen after - and not as yet having had a son by Sarai his wife, he then first received the promise of a son, when he had now reached ninety-nine and would be a hundred when this son was born. The arcanum is that by means of these experiences he might represent the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and in fact of His Internal Man, which was Jehovah, with His Rational.