The Ten Commandments which were written by the finger of God upon two tables of stone are likewise called the "Covenant" and also the "Testimony" - for they testify or bear witness to the Divine Truth, and thus to the Lord. Indeed the "Testimony," having been given directly from the Lord, represented Him.

When we read the story of the newly born Moses in the ark of bulrushes, we learned of the splendid ark of shittim wood overlaid with gold, in which the Commandments or Testimony was kept. This ark, with the golden mercy-seat, or "propitiatory" over it, was called "the ark of the testimony" and also "the ark of the covenant." The tables of stone, with the precious Commandments written on them, were kept safe in this ark, which was nearly four feet long, and about two and a half feet wide, and of the same height.

But where was the ark kept? In a beautiful tent or tabernacle, which is carefully described in Exodus 26 and 27. It had two rooms, the inner room was called the "holy of holies," where the ark was kept, and where no one was allowed to enter, except the high priest, once a year. The other room was larger and was called the "holy" place, and contained the table of showbread, the candlestick or lampstand, and the golden altar of incense. Around the tabernacle was an enclosure, which was called the "court" and here, between the door of the tabernacle and the gate of the court, was the large brazen altar of burnt offerings, and the brazen laver, or wash-basin.

The tabernacle stood in the center of the encampment of the children of Israel. Directly around it the tribe of Levi, who had charge of it, encamped according to their families; and around these, the twelve tribes of Israel, all in their order.

We have seen that the "Testimony" represented the Lord. What then did the tabernacle represent? Heaven. As the testimony was in the tabernacle, and the tabernacle would not have been holy unless the testimony had been in it, so the Lord is in heaven, and heaven is not holy, it is not heaven, unless the Lord be in it.

But why were there three parts to the tabernacle - the "holy of holies," the "holy," and the "court"? Because there are three heavens.

The holy of holies represented the third, or celestial, or highest, or inmost heaven.

The holy represented the second, or spiritual, or middle heaven.

The court represented the first, or natural, or lowest heaven.

And everything belonging to the tabernacle, the furniture, the curtains, the boards, the hooks, the staves, the pins, as well as the number of planks, the number of curtains, the number of cubits in the various dimensions - every little or big thing that is told in the description, represented something that belongs to heaven. It would take a book to tell it all. Indeed, more than one volume of the Arcana Coelestia or Heavenly Secrets is devoted to explaining what it all means to the angels. The Lord has been so good and kind to us as to explain it; and you may learn at least a few of the most important things in this lesson.

The "Testimony" represented the Lord, and His Word of Truth. The table was made for the showbread, and the bread represented the same thing as did the manna which came down from heaven, and also as did the bread of the Holy Supper - namely, the food which sustains the life of the angels. The lampstand or candlestick, with its light, represented the truth which enlightens the minds of angels. The golden altar of incense represented the worship which the angels render to the Lord with their pious thoughts, as in their prayers and in the love for the neighbor which they show forth in accordance with the Lord's commandments. The brazen altar of burnt offerings represented the worship which the angels accord the Lord with their loving hearts.

Swedenborg tells us the special reason why the Lord desired to have a tabernacle reared to Him - for this tabernacle was used not only in the desert, but also after they entered the land of Canaan, where it was set up at Shiloh, and later in Zion, being used throughout a period of about five hundred years. Now, why should the Lord desire a tabernacle or tent, instead of a house such as a temple? Because the people whom the Lord had loved most of all, namely, the Most Ancients, who had lived during the golden age, had all lived in tents. Because the good life of this people was associated with tents, therefore genuine goodness and everything celestial is represented by tents or tabernacles.

In the work entitled Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love (n. 75), Swedenborg describes a visit which he once paid to these most ancient people, who are now all angels.

The Lord sent an angel to Swedenborg to be his companion on the way, for they had to make a long and hard journey, which took them for some time through a very dark forest, full of lurking dangers from giants and wild animals, and full of chances to go astray. But with the angel as his guide, they passed through safely and gradually went higher and higher, until at last they came on a high, sunlit mountain tableland. And here they found these most lovable and excellent angels still living in tents as they had done on earth. As far as the eye could reach, Swedenborg saw tents and tents. The inhabitants of the mountain called it "the camp of the Lord Jehovih," and they called themselves the "hosts of the Lord Jehovih." This will help you to understand why the Lord is called, in the Word, "the LORD of Hosts," or "Jehovah of Hosts." In the midst of the encampment was a hill, and from that came a wonderfully beautiful light that shone out in every direction. Swedenborg asked one of the inhabitants, what that light was and was told that it came from the sanctuary of the tent of their worship. He asked for permission to go near to see it, and this being granted, he found that it was built,, inside and out, exactly according to the description of the tabernacle which was built for the children of Israel in the desert. You may remember that the Lord showed the pattern of the tabernacle to Moses on Mount Sinai. (Exod. 25:40; 26:30)

Is it not lovely to know that when we read the description of this tabernacle we are reading the description of one that exists at the present day in heaven, and among the very best and most lovable of the angels? The Lord provided that the children of Israel should make such a tabernacle so that we may have the description of it in the Holy Word, and that we may picture to ourselves more fully the life of the angels in heaven. While Swedenborg was examining the tabernacle he asked, "What is inside in that sanctuary, from which there is such a great light?" And he was told, "It is a tablet, with this inscription, ‘The Covenant between Jehovah and the Heavens.’"

And so in like manner in the encampment of the children of Israel there was a great light that came from between the two cherubim on top of the ark where the Testimony was. The light came from the Lord’s presence.

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