9611. 'And you shall make fifty clasps of gold' means a complete ability derived from good to join things together. This is clear from the meaning of 'fifty' as completeness, as above in 9608; from the meaning of 'clasps' as an ability to join things together, for they possess this ability by virtue of their shape, which is that of something curved or curled back; and from the meaning of 'gold' as good, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490, 9510.

9490. 'And you shall overlay it with pure gold' means that all those aspects must be founded on good. This is clear from the meaning of 'overlaying' - when the subject is heaven, meant by 'the ark' - as founding on, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'gold' as good, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917. The reason why 'overlaying' means founding on is that good emanating from the Lord as the Sun (for the heat from that Sun is the good of love) surrounds heaven not merely as a general whole but also every heavenly community within heaven specifically, and each angel individually too, and thereby protects them from the intrusion of evil from hell. That which surrounds in heaven serves to stabilize it; for heaven rests against it like a house on its foundation and like the surfaces of the body against the lower and upper layers of air bearing down around them. For that which surrounds also bounds, confines, and contains, and in so doing supports and sustains. From all this it is evident that 'overlaying' means founding on, and 'overlaying with gold' founding on good.