Apocalypse Revealed # 378
378. "And have washed their robes." This symbolically means, who have cleansed their religious beliefs of the evils accompanying falsity.
Washing in the Word symbolizes a cleansing oneself of evils and falsities, and robes symbolize general truths (no. 328). General truths are concepts of goodness and truth drawn from the literal sense of the Word, in accordance with which these people have lived, so that they are religious beliefs. And because every matter of religion has relation to goodness and truth, therefore robes are mentioned twice - "have washed their robes" and "have made their robes white."
Robes or religious beliefs are cleansed only in the case of people who fight against evils and so reject falsities, who thus undergo temptations or trials, which are symbolically meant by "the great tribulation" (no. 377).
That to be washed means, symbolically, to be cleansed of evils and falsities, and so to be reformed and regenerated, can be seen from the following passages:
When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and rinsed away the blood of Jerusalem... by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of purification... (Isaiah 4:4)
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from My eyes. Cease to do evil... (Isaiah 1:16)
Wash your heart of its wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. (Jeremiah 4:14)
Wash me clean of my iniquity..., and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalms 51:2, 7)
...if you wash yourself with soda, and use much soap, your iniquity will still retain its spots. (Jeremiah 2:22)
If I wash myself with melted snow, and cleanse my hands with soap..., yet... my own clothes will abhor me. (Job 9:30-31)
Who... has washed his clothing in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)
This is said of the celestial church, from which come people prompted by love toward the Lord, and in the highest sense it is said of the Lord Himself. Wine and the blood of grapes are spiritual and celestial Divine truth.
I washed you with water, and rinsed off your blood from upon you... (Ezekiel 16:9)
This is said of Jerusalem. Water is truth, and blood is an adulteration of truth.
[2] It can be seen from this what washing in the Israelite Church represented and thus symbolized. As, for example, that Aaron was to wash himself before he put on the vestments of his ministry (Leviticus 16:4, 24), and before he approached the altar to minister (Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-31).
[3] It can be seen from this that among the children of Israel washing represented a spiritual washing, which is a cleansing from evils and falsities, and thus reformation and regeneration.
It is apparent also from the aforesaid what baptism by John in the Jordan symbolized (Matthew 3, Mark 1:4-13), and what the symbolic meaning of the following words by John regarding the Lord is, that He baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16, John 1:33), and regarding himself, that he baptized with water (John 1:26). The meaning is that the Lord washes or purifies a person by Divine truth and Divine goodness, and that John by his baptism represented this. For the Holy Spirit is Divine truth, the fire is Divine goodness, and the water is representative of these. For water symbolizes the truth in the Word, which becomes goodness by one's living in accordance with it (no. 50).
以西結書 43
2
以色列神的榮光從東而來。他的聲音如同多水的聲音;地就因他的榮耀發光。
3
其狀如從前他來滅城的時候我所見的異象,那異象如我在迦巴魯河邊所見的異象,我就俯伏在地。
7
他對我說:人子啊,這是我寶座之地,是我腳掌所踏之地。我要在這裡住,在以色列人中直到永遠。以色列家和他們的君王必不再玷污我的聖名,就是行邪淫、在錫安的高處葬埋他們君王的屍首,
8
使他們的門檻挨近我的門檻,他們的門框挨近我的門框;他們與我中間僅隔一牆,並且行可憎的事,玷污了我的聖名,所以我發怒滅絕他們。
9
現在他們當從我面前遠除邪淫和他們君王的屍首,我就住在他們中間直到永遠。
10
人子啊,你要將這殿指示以色列家,使他們因自己的罪孽慚愧,也要他們量殿的尺寸。
11
他們若因自己所行的一切事慚愧,你就將殿的規模、樣式、出入之處,和一切形狀、典章、禮儀、法則指示他們,在他們眼前寫上,使他們遵照殿的一切規模典章去做。
12
殿的法則乃是如此:殿在山頂上,四圍的全界要稱為至聖。這就是殿的法則。
13
以下量祭壇,是以肘為度(這肘是一肘零一掌)。底座高一肘,邊寬一肘,四圍起邊高一掌,這是壇的座。
14
從底座到下層磴臺,高二肘,邊寬一肘。從小磴臺到大磴臺,高四肘,邊寬一肘。
17
磴臺長十四肘,寬十四肘,四面見方。四圍起邊高半肘,底座四圍的邊寬一肘。臺階朝東。
18
他對我說:人子啊,主耶和華如此說:建造祭壇,為要在其上獻燔祭灑血,造成的時候典章如下:
19
主耶和華說,你要將一隻公牛犢作為贖罪祭,給祭司利未人撒督的後裔,就是那親近我、事奉我的。
20
你要取些公牛的血,抹在壇的四角和磴臺的四拐角,並四圍所起的邊上。你這樣潔淨壇,壇就潔淨了。
21
你又要將那作贖罪祭的公牛犢燒在殿外、聖地之外預定之處。
22
次日,要將無殘疾的公山羊獻為贖罪祭;要潔淨壇,像用公牛犢潔淨的一樣。
23
潔淨了壇,就要將一隻無殘疾的公牛犢和羊群中一隻無殘疾的公綿羊