9674. And thou shalt bestow it upon four pillars of shittim. That this signifies the good of merit, which belongs to the Lord alone, conjoining and supporting, is evident from the signification of "four," as being conjunction (see n. 1686, 8877); that "four" denotes conjunction is because this number arises from two multiplied into itself, and multiplied numbers have the same signification as the simple numbers of which they are composed (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973, and that "two" denotes conjunction, see n. 5194, 8423); from the signification of "pillars," as being support (of which in what follows); and from the signification of "shittim wood," as being the good of merit, which belongs to the Lord alone (n. 9472, 9486). That this good is the only good which reigns in heaven, may be seen above (n. 9486); thus it is also that which supports heaven. The reason why "pillars" signify support, is that they supported the veil, just as the planks, also of shittim wood, supported the curtains of the Habitation (n. 9634). [2] By "pillars" in the spiritual sense are signified those things which support heaven and the church, and which are the goods of love and the goods of faith from the Lord. These are signified by "pillars" in these passages:
I will judge in rectitudes, the earths are melting and all its inhabitants, I will make firm its pillars (Ps. 75:2, 3). God, who shaketh the earth out of her place, so that the pillars thereof tremble (Job 9:6). "The pillars of the earth" denote the goods and truths which support the church; for "the earth" in the Word denotes the church (n. 9325). It is evident that the pillars of the earth are not the things which tremble. And in John:
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go outside no more; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and My new name (Rev. 3:12);
where a "pillar in the temple" denotes the goods and truths of the church, which are also meant by "the name of God," and "the name of the city, the New Jerusalem." (That "the name of God" denotes all the good and truth of the church, or everything in the complex by which the Lord is worshiped, see n. 2724, 3006, 6674, 9310.)
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