272. And they had on their heads golden crowns, signifies all truths arranged into order by Divine good, thus also all the former heavens. This is evident from the signification of "four and twenty elders sitting upon four and twenty thrones, arrayed in white garments," as being all truths of the heavens, thus all the heavens both higher and lower (of which just above, n. 270, 271); also from the signification of a "golden crown," as being Divine good, from which are truths (of which in what follows). All the truths of heaven and of the church are from Divine good; truths that are not therefrom are not truths. Truths that are not from good are like shells without a kernel, and like a house in which no man dwells, but a wild beast; such are the truths that are called truths of faith apart from the good of charity; the good of charity is good from the Lord, thus Divine good. Now as "the elders upon thrones" signify the truths of the heavens, and "golden crowns" the good from which these are, therefore the elders were seen with crowns. The "crowns of kings" have a like signification; for "kings" in a representative sense signify truths, and "crowns" upon their heads signify the good from which the truths are (that "kings" signify truths may be seen above, n. 31. For this reason the crowns are of gold, for "gold" in like manner signifies good (See above. n. 242).

[2] That "crowns" signify good and wisdom therefrom, and that truths are what are crowned, can be seen from the following passages. In David:

I will make the horn to spring forth for David; I will set in order a lamp for Mine anointed; his enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon himself shall his crown blossom (Psalms 132:17-18).

Here "David" and "anointed" mean the Lord (See above, n. 205[1-6]); "horn" His power; "lamp" is the Divine truth from which is Divine intelligence; "Crown" the Divine good from which is Divine wisdom, and from which is the Lord's government; and the "enemies," that shall be clothed with shame, are evils and falsities.

[3] In the same:

Thou showest anger with Thine anointed. Thou hast condemned even to the earth his crown (Psalms 89:38-39).

Here also "anointed" stands for the Lord, and "anger" for a state of temptation, in which He was when in combats with the hells. "Anger" and "condemnation" describe the lamentation at that time, as the Lord's last lamentation on the cross, that He was forsaken; for the cross was the last of His temptations or combats with the hells; and after that last temptation He put on the Divine good of the Divine love, and thus united the Divine Human to the Divine Itself which was in Him.

[4] In Isaiah:

In that day shall Jehovah of Hosts be for a crown of adornment, and for a diadem of splendor, unto the remnant of His people (Isaiah 28:5).

Here "crown of adornment" means wisdom that is of good from the Divine; and "the diadem of splendor" intelligence that is of truth from that good.

[5] In the same:

For Zion's sake will I not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp burneth; and thou shalt be a crown of splendor in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal tiara in the hand of thy God (Isaiah 62:1, 3).

Here "Zion" and "Jerusalem" mean the church, "Zion" the church which is in good, and "Jerusalem" the church which is in truths from that good; therefore it is called "a crown of splendor in the hand of Jehovah," and "a royal tiara in the hand of thy God;" a "crown of splendor" is wisdom that is of good, and a "royal tiara" is intelligence that is of truth; and because "crown" signifies wisdom that is of good it is said to be "in the hand of Jehovah;" and because "tiara" signifies intelligence that is of truth it is said to be "in the hand of God;" for "Jehovah" is used where good is treated of, and "God" where truth is treated of (See Arcana Coelestia 2586, 2769, 6905).

[6] In Jeremiah:

Say to the king and to the mistress, Humble yourselves, sit ye; for your headtire is come down, the crown of your splendor (Jeremiah 13:18);

a "crown of splendor" meaning wisdom that is of good ("splendor" is the Divine truth of the church, Arcana Coelestia 9815).

[7] In the same:

The joy of our heart hath ceased; our dance is turned into mourning; the crown of our head hath fallen (Lamentations 5:15, 16);

"the crown of the head that hath fallen" means the wisdom which those who are of the church have through Divine truth, which wisdom hath ceased, together with internal blessedness.

[8] In Ezekiel:

I put a jewel upon thy nose, and ear-rings on thine ears, and a crown of splendor upon thine head (Ezekiel 16:12).

This refers to Jerusalem, which is the church, here the church at its first establishment; "the jewel upon the nose" signifies the perception of good; and "the ear-rings on the ears" the perception of truth and obedience; and the "crown upon the head" signifies wisdom therefrom.

In Job:

He hath stripped from me the glory, and taken away the crown of my head (Job 19:9);

"glory" meaning intelligence from Divine truth, and a "crown of the head" the wisdom therefrom.

[9] in Revelation:

I saw, and behold a white horse; and He that sat on him had a bow, and there was given unto Him a crown; and He went forth conquering and to conquer (Revelation 6:2).

"The white horse and He that sat on him" is the Lord in respect to the Word; "the bow" is the doctrine of truth by which the combat is waged; from which it is clear that "crown," since it is attributed to the Lord, is the Divine good that He put on even in respect to the human, as a reward of victory.

[10] Again:

Afterwards I saw, and behold a white cloud; and on the cloud One sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle (Revelation 14:14);

a "white cloud" standing for the literal sense of the Word (Arcana Coelestia 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8281, 8781);

"the Son of man" meaning the Lord in respect to Divine truth;

"the golden crown," the Divine good from which is Divine truth;

and "the sharp sickle," the dispersion of evil and falsity.

[11] That a "crown" is Divine good from which is Divine truth was represented by the plats of gold upon the front of the miter that was upon Aaron, which plate was also called a "crown" and a "coronet;" it is thus described in Exodus:

Thou shalt make a plate of gold, and grave upon it with the engraving of a signet, Holiness to Jehovah; and thou shalt put it on a thread of blue, and it shall be on the miter, over against the face of it (Exodus 28:36, 37).

That this plate was called a "crown of holiness" and a "coronet," see Exodus 39:30; Leviticus 8:9. (But what was specially signified thereby, see Arcana Coelestia 9930-9936, where the particulars are explained.)

9865. 'A ruby, a topaz, a carbuncle' means the celestial love of good. This is clear from the meaning of these stones as the good of celestial love, celestial love being love to the Lord, received from the Lord. Those stones mean that love on account of their red and flaming colour; for 'red' means love, 3300, and so does 'flaming', 3222, 6832, 7620-7622, 9570. But here celestial love is meant because those stones are in the first row; and those in the first row correspond to the realities that exist in the inmost heaven, where celestial love, which is love to the Lord, reigns. Since the twelve stones in the breastplate represented all the truths that spring from good they also represented the whole of heaven; for heaven is heaven by virtue of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, the angels there who constitute heaven being recipients of that Truth. So it is that the three stones which are in the first row represent the inmost heaven, consequently the love that reigns there, which is called the celestial love of good and celestial love of truth. The stones in the first row represent the celestial love of good, those in the second row the celestial love of truth. These stones represent that love, as has been stated, on account of their colour; for what precious stones represent is determined by their colours.

[2] In heaven colours of indescribable beauty appear; for they are modifications of heavenly light, and heavenly light is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. From this it is evident that colours present themselves there in accord with variations of goodness and truth; thus they are modifications of the light emanating from the Lord, through the angels. The light emanating from the Lord appears in the inmost heaven as a flame; therefore the colours resulting from it are red and flashing. But the same light appears in the middle heaven as a brilliantly white light; therefore the colours resulting from it are brilliant, and to the extent that they have good within them they are gleaming. This explains why there are two basic colours to which all others are related, namely the colour red and the colour white; and the colour red is representative of good, while the colour white is representative of truth, see 9467.

[3] From all this it is now clear why it was that stones of so many colours were set in rows in the breastplate, namely in order that they might represent all the forms of good and the truths that exist in heaven in their proper order, and consequently represent the whole of heaven. The reason why the stones in the first row - a ruby, a topaz, and a carbuncle - represented the celestial love of good is that they are different hues of red. Furthermore the noun used in the original language for 'a ruby', the first in the row, is derived from a word that means 'redness'; and that for 'a carbuncle', the third in the row, is derived from a word meaning 'flashing', as if from fire. But as for the derivation of 'a topaz', the middle one in the row, this is unknown, though it very probably comes from something describing a red and flaming colour. This may be why in Job something similar is said of a topaz as is said of gold,

With wisdom the topaz of Ethiopia will not compete, it cannot be valued in pure gold. Job 28:19.

'Gold' too means the good of love, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510.