AE 700 - The Ark

AE 700 [11, 24, 30, 34]

Because the ark, from the law that was in it,
meant the Lord in relation to Divine truth,
and the Lord has omnipotence
from Divine good through Divine truth,
therefore by means of the ark miracles were wrought.
Thus by means of it
the waters of Jordan were divided,
so that the sons of Israel passed over on dry ground;
the wall of the city of Jericho was overthrown;
Dagon, the god of the Ashdodites, fell down before it;
the Ashdodites, the Gittites,
the Ekronites, and the Bethshemites,
were smitten with plagues on account of it;
Uzzah died because he touched it;
Obed-edom, into whose house it was brought,
was blessed.

All the historicals of the Word,
as well as its prophetical parts,
contain a spiritual sense that treats,
not of the sons of Israel and of nations and peoples,
but of the church and its establishment and progress,
for this is the spiritual of the Word,
while the history is the natural that contains the spiritual.
Therefore also all the miracles described in the Word,
as the miracles done in Egypt
and afterwards in the land of Canaan,
involve such things as belong to heaven and the church,
and for this reason also these miracles are Divine.

. . . the "ark," because of the law in it,
signifies Divine truth proceeding from the Lord.

. . . the cherubim that were over the mercy-seat
which was upon the ark,
mean the guard that the Lord be not approached
except through the good of love.

. . . the third heaven,
where angels are conjoined to the Lord by love to Him,
. . . consequently
have Divine truth inscribed on their hearts.