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 (Isa. 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.
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