Nehemiah 12:27

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, etc. The city had already been built for some time, but it was not fitting to dedicate it until inhabitants were gathered, appropriate ministers for the temple were assigned, and guards were appointed for the gates and vestibules. Once the holy city is established, it is dedicated when, at the end of the age, the number of the elect is completed and the Universal Church is brought into heaven to behold its Creator. Whenever we are uplifted in this life with the desires for that life, we rejoice as if at the dedication of our figurative city. Thus, this same dedication can be understood in two ways signification-wise: at one time, in the hope of those desiring and purifying the eyes of their heart, by which they may be able to see God; and then in the actual enjoyment of the divine vision by blessed people in spiritual bodies among the angelic host of spirits.

They sought out the Levites from all their dwellings, etc. Spiritual Levites, that is, those chosen for the lot of the kingdom, are also sought from all their places, when the Son of Man shall send His angels, and gather His elect from the four winds, from the highest part of the earth to the highest part of the heavens. And they make dedication with joy, song, thanksgiving; and with various musical instruments, for in the perception of eternal life they will rejoice together, giving thanks to Him by whose gift they have deserved to enter that city. Moreover, cymbals, psalteries, and lyres can be understood as the bodies of the saints, now immortal, rendering the sweetest sounds of their praise to the Lord. But in the present life, the Levites are gathered in Jerusalem when the faithful, inflamed by the memory of supernal peace, place their whole mind's delight in it, and of that eternal inheritance in the heavens which they hope to receive; and if they cannot yet see it, at least they rejoice in the hope, according to the words of the Psalmist: Rejoice, you just, in the Lord, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness (Ps. XCVI). For they make dedication in song and thanksgiving, receiving with a mind rejoicing in the Lord whatever occurs in the world, whether adversity or prosperity. They also make it in cymbals, psalteries, and lyres, when they cause the grateful sounds of good works to ascend to the ears of their Creator, and also kindle the hearts of their neighbors to the love of the same Creator and Savior.