9435. 'And Moses went into the midst of the cloud' means the Word in its outward sense. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, at this point the Word in its outward sense since it says that he went 'into the midst of the cloud', and 'the cloud' means the outward sense of the Word. For the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, see above in 9414, and for the meaning of 'the cloud' as its outward sense, in 9430. Moses remained at the foot of the mountain for six days, and then on the seventh day he received the call and went into the cloud, up into the mountain. This happened in order that he might represent that which acted as an intermediary between the people and the Lord, in keeping with what has been stated above in 9414. Degrees of ascent from the people to the Lord are described by this. When Moses went eventually into the mountain he first represented the outward holiness of the Word, which acted as an intermediary; for that mountain means heaven, where holiness dwells. But he was allowed no further in than the outermost part of heaven, where the outward holiness of the Word comes to an end. His being allowed only that far in has been demonstrated to me in a representative manner by means of a spirit, the upper part of whose face down to the chin appeared in the light of heaven, while the lower part from the chin downwards, together with the whole of the body, was in a cloud. This showed me how much of the outward holiness, which acted as an intermediary, Moses represented. The reason why the six days that Moses remained at the foot of the mountain has meant the state of truth, and the seventh day when he went up into the mountain means the state of good, in keeping with the explanation above in 9431, 9432, is that those who are being regenerated by the Lord mount by like degrees of ascent from the world into heaven. The person is raised from outward things to inward ones, because he is raised from the level of natural man, where outward things exist, to that of the spiritual man, where inward things exist. This kind of raising or ascent was also represented by Moses when he took on the representation of the outward holiness that acted as an intermediary. For the outward holiness of the Word is the gateway to the state of good, and so to heaven.