196. And they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. That this signifies the spiritual life which they have procured by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, is evident from the signification of walking, as being to live (concerning which see above, n. 97), and from the signification of in white, as being in truths, for whiteness and brightness in the Word are said of truths, concerning which we shall speak presently. By walking with Me in white, is signified spiritual life for spiritual life is the life of truth, that is, life according to truths, or according to the precepts of the Lord in the Word; also from the signification of for they are worthy, as being because they have spiritual life from the Lord. In the measure that any one receives from the Lord, in the same measure he is worthy, but in the measure that he receives from himself, that is, from his own, or from his proprium, in the same measure he is not worthy. Nothing else constitutes spiritual life with man but the knowledge of truth and good from the Word applied to life; and these are applied to life when a man makes them the laws of his life; for thus he looks to the Lord in everything and the Lord is present with him, and gives him intelligence and wisdom, with their affection and delight. For the Lord is in His own truths with man, because every truth proceeds from Him; and what proceeds from the Lord is His, so that it is Himself; therefore the Lord says,

"I am the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

"He that doeth truth cometh to the light, because [his works] are wrought in God" (John 3:21).

"The Word was with God, and God was the Word. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. He was the true light which lighteth every man. And the Word was made flesh" (John 1:1, 2, 4, 9, 14).

The Lord is called the Word because the Word signifies Divine truth, and He is also called the light, because Divine truth is the light of heaven; He is also called the life, because everything that lives, lives from that light; this also is the source of intelligence and wisdom to angels, in which their life consists. He who supposes that life is from any other source than the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, which in heaven is called Divine truth, and appears there as light, is much deceived. It is therefore evident how it is to be understood that God was the Word, that in Him was life, and that the life was the light of men.

[2] The reason why white in the Word is said of truths, is, because Divine truth is the light of heaven, as just said, and from the light of heaven arise whiteness and brightness. This is why,

When the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, "His face appeared as the sun, and His garments were white as the light" (Matthew 17:2), and as "white, and glistering" (Luke 9:29), "shining white as snow, so as no fuller on earth could whiten them" (Mark 9:3).

Also why

The raiment of the angels at the sepulchre of the Lord was white as snow (Matthew 28:3), and shining (Luke 24:4);

Why there appeared to John seven angels out of the temple clothed in linen clean and shining (Apoc. 15:6);

Why those who stood before the throne of the Lamb were arrayed in white robes (Apoc. 6:11; 7:9, 13, 14; 19:8)

Why the army of Him who sat on the white horse followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Apoc. 14:14);

And why also the garments of Aaron were of linen, and he put them on when he went within the veil to the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:1-5, 32).

Linen, from its whiteness, also signifies truth (see Arcana Coelestia 7601, 9959). Because white signifies truth, and truths reveal falsities and evils in man, and so purify him, it is therefore said in David,

"Behold thou desirest truth in the reins, and in the hidden part thou makest me to know wisdom. Thou shalt purify me with hyssop that I may be clean; thou shalt wash me and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalms 51:6, 7).

[3] Because the Nazarite represented the Lord as to Divine truth in ultimates, which upon earth is the Word in the sense of the letter, and this was falsified and perverted with the Jews, therefore it is said concerning them in the Lamentations,

"Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, they were brighter than milk, their bones were more ruddy than pearls, their polishing was of sapphire; but their form is obscured, that they are not known in the streets" (4:7, 8).

(That the Nazarites represented the Lord as to Divine truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 6437; that the crown of the head of the Nazarite denotes Divine truth in ultimates, or the Word in the letter, n. 6437, 9407. That the hair which was of the Nazariteship, and was called the crown of the head of the Nazarite, denotes Divine truth in ultimates, n. 3301, 5247, 10044. That Divine truth in ultimates has strength and power, n. 9836; that hence the strength of Samson was in his hair, n. 3301.)

[4] Hence it is evident what is signified by the Nazarites being whiter than snow, and brighter than milk, and by the sapphire being the polishing of their bones, but that their form was obscured, so that they were not known in the streets. For whiteness and brightness signify Divine truth in its light, as said above; and bones, because they are the ultimates in man, being the supports of his whole body, correspond to the ultimates in heaven. For all things in man corresponding to all things in heaven (see the work, Heaven and Hell 87-102. Bones therefore signify the ultimates in the spiritual world, which are also the ultimates of Divine truth or the Word, Arcana Coelestia 5560-5564, 8005. Sapphire signifies what is translucent from truth, see n. 9407; and, not being known in the streets signifies Divine truth no longer appearing; for streets signify where the truths of doctrine are, n. 2336).

9915. 'The work of a weaver' means from the celestial. This is clear from the meaning of 'the work of a weaver' as from the celestial. 'The work' means that which is created or comes into being, thus that which arises from another, while 'a weaver' is the one who causes it to exist or come into being. He accordingly means the celestial, for from this and through this the spiritual derives its being. It has been shown above in 9913, 9914, that the good of the celestial kingdom flows into the good of the spiritual kingdom, giving it its being. But whether you say the good of the celestial kingdom or the celestial, it amounts to the same thing; for the celestial is the good of that kingdom. And the same applies to the good of the spiritual kingdom and the spiritual. What the good of the celestial kingdom or the celestial is, and what the good of the spiritual kingdom or the spiritual is, see the places referred to in 9277.

[2] In the heavens there are three realities that follow one another in order - the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural. The celestial composes the inmost heaven, the spiritual the middle heaven, and the natural emanating from the spiritual the lowest heaven. The same three are present in the human being, and in him they follow one another in the same order as they do in the heavens; for a person who has been regenerated is heaven in the smallest form this can take, corresponding to the largest, 9279. But the mental powers that receive those three are called will, understanding, and factual knowledge from which springs the power of thought or imagination that the external or natural man possesses. The will is the recipient of the celestial, or good, and the understanding is the recipient of the spiritual, or truth from that good; and factual knowledge, which composes the level of understanding in the natural man, embodies the first two within itself. These three are meant in the Word by 'an embroiderer', 'a designer', and 'a weaver'. 'An embroiderer' or embroidery means factual knowledge, see, 9688, and 'a designer' or designing means the power of understanding, 9598, 9688, so that 'a weaver' means the power of will. The reason why 'a weaver' has this meaning is that the will flows into the understanding and weaves it, to such an extent that the contents of the understanding are weavings produced by the will. For what the will desires it fashions in such a way that it may appear to the sight in the understanding. This sight is thought (cogitatio), which is why 'a designer' (excogitator) means the power of understanding.

[3] Since Aaron's garments represented the spiritual heaven lying adjacent to the celestial kingdom, 9814, and the celestial kingdom corresponds to the human power of will and the spiritual kingdom to the human power of understanding, 9835, the terms 'work of an embroiderer', 'work of a designer', and 'work of a weaver' are used in special reference to those garments. These terms serve to mean the things that spring from factual knowledge, from the understanding, and from the will, or what amounts to the same thing, from the natural, from the spiritual, and from the celestial.

[4] That such things are meant becomes clear to all those who believe that the Word is Divine and that for this reason it contains inwardly descriptions of things which belong to the Lord, to heaven, and to the Church, since these subjects are Divine. Why else would Jehovah Himself declare who should make Aaron's garments and what kind of workmanship should be used? Why would He declare which ones should be the work of an embroiderer, which the work of a designer, and which the work of a weaver? These three are also mentioned specifically in the following words later on in the Book of Exodus,

These He has filled with wisdom of heart to do every work of a workman, and of a designer, and of an embroiderer in violet and in purple and in twice-dyed scarlet, and of a weaver - of those doing every work, of those who compose designs. ¹ Exodus 35:35.

'A workman' here means Divine Good that is celestial, which composes the power of will in one who has been regenerated, 9846. His work is mentioned first because [that kind of Good] springs directly from the Divine, and then indirectly from celestial good all things are born and emanate.

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