while the tabernacle meant the heaven where the heavenly angels are.
Spiritual angels have wisdom because of the Word. Heavenly angels
have love because of the Word.
The Lord himself teaches in John that in its highest meaning the
Temple at Jerusalem stood for the Lord’s divine-human manifestation:
“Break this temple in pieces and I will raise it in three days.” He was
speaking of the temple of his body.(John 2 : 19 , 21 )
When something means the Lord it also means the Word, because he is
the Word.
Since the interiors of the Temple represented the inner parts of
heaven and the church, and the inner parts of the Word as well, its exte-
riors in turn represented and meant the outer parts of heaven and the
church, and the outer parts of the Word as well, which belong to its lit-
eral meaning. We read of the exteriors of the Temple that they were built
of whole, uncut stone, with cedar on the inside face; all the walls were
carved on the inside with angel guardians, palm trees, and open flowers;
and the floor was overlaid with gold ( 1 Kings 6 : 7 , 29 , 30 ). All these
details stand for the outer parts of the Word, which are holy aspects of its
literal meaning.222 6. When the Lord was transfigured, he represented the Word in its glory.
Of the Lord’s transfiguration before Peter, James, and John, we read that
his face shone like the sun; his clothing became like light; Moses and Elijah
were seen speaking with him; a shining cloud came over the disciples; and
from the cloud a voice was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son. Hear
him” (Matthew 17 : 1 – 5 ).
I have been taught that in this instance the Lord represented the
Word. His face shining like the sun represented the divine goodness of
his divine love. The clothes that became like the light represented the
divine truth of his divine wisdom. Moses and Elijah represented the his-
torical Word and the prophetic Word. Moses represented the Word that
was written through him, and the historical Word in general. Elijah rep-
resented the whole prophetic Word. The shining cloud that covered the
disciples represented the Word in its literal meaning. That is why a voice
was heard coming from the cloud saying, “This is my beloved Son.
Hear him.”
All communications and answers from heaven come solely through
outermost things like those in the Word’s literal meaning. The Lord com-
municates in a complete way.