9494. Et tu les mettras sur les quatre angles, signifie la fermeté : on le voit par la signification des angles, en ce qu'ils sont la force et la fermeté ; si les angles ont cette signification c'est parce que là est la plus grande résistance, et aussi la connexion du tout L'Angle étant la force et la fermeté, telles que sont celles du Divin Vrai d'après le Divin Bien, c'est pour cela que le Seigneur est appelé la Pierre de l'Angle, dans David :

« La Pierre, qu'on rejetée les Architectes, a été faite en Tête d'Angle. “ - Psaumes 118:22. Matthieu 21:42 :

Et dans Zacharie :

« De Jehudah viendra l'Angle, de lui le clou, et de lui l'arc de guerre. » - Zacharie 10:4 : -puis dans Ésaïe :

« Le Seigneur Jéhovah fondera en Sion une Pierre éprouvée, un Angle de prix de fondation fondée. " - Ésaïe 28:16 ;

L'Angle signifie pareillement la fermeté de la doctrine d'après le vrai qui provient du bien, dans Jérémie :

« On ne prendra point de toi la pierre pour l'angle, ni la pierre des fondements. “ - Jérémie 51:26. -Comme les angles signifient la fermeté, c'est pour cela que des cornes furent placées aux quatre angles de l'autel, il en est parlé ainsi dans Moïse :

« Tu feras les cornes de l'autel sur ses quatre angles, de lui seront ses cornes. " - Exode 27:2 ;

Que les cornes soient la puissance du vrai d'après le bien, par conséquent la force et la fermeté, on le voit, numéros 2832, 9081. Les angles aussi signifient la force et la puissance dans Jérémie :

« Un feu est sorti de Chesbon, il a dévoré l'angle de Moab. “ - Jérémie 48:45 :

Et dans Moïse :

« Il sortira une étoile de Jacob, et il s'élèvera un sceptre d'Israël ; et il brisera les angles de Moab. " - Nombres 24:17 ;

-Moab, dont la puissance devait être détruite, représente ceux qui adultèrent les biens de l'Église, numéro 2468 ; leurs angles, c'est la puissance du faux d'après les biens adultérés. Comme les angles sont la puissance et la force, voilà pourquoi ceux qui ne sont pas dans la puissance du vrai d'après le bien, sont appelés les retranchés de l'angle, - .

Quant à ce que signifient les angles, lorsque par eux sont entendus les plages ou les vents, voir ci-après, numéro 9642.

4859. 'And covered herself with a veil' means the truth was rendered obscure. This is clear from the meaning of 'covering oneself (that is, covering one's face) with a veil' as concealing and so rendering obscure truth which pretended to spring from good, as immediately above in 4858. Tamar did this so that she might become joined to Judah. For when brides first approached their bridegrooms they used to cover themselves with a veil, as one reads of Rebekah doing when she came to Isaac, Genesis 24:65, by which appearances of truth were meant, see 3207. 'A wife' means truth and 'a husband' good; but because truth as it really is does not show itself before it is joined to its good, therefore - to represent this reality - brides used to cover themselves with a veil when seen for the first time by their husbands. Here Tamar acted in a similar way, for she supposed that Shelah, Judah's son, should be her husband. But because she had not been given to him she then supposed that his father should perform the duty of a husband's brother instead. Therefore she covered herself with a veil as a bride would do. She did not cover herself as a whore would have done, though Judah supposed that this was what she was because in those times whores were likewise accustomed to cover their faces, as is evident from verse 15. The reason Judah supposed she was that kind of woman was that the Jewish nation, which is there meant by 'Judah', rated the internal truths of the representative Church as low as a whore. Therefore Judah was joined to her as though she were a whore; but Tamar's joining to him was not like that. Because internal truths could not be seen by that nation in any other way than this, the words used here 'she covered herself with a veil' therefore mean that truth was rendered obscure. The fact that the truth of the Church has been rendered obscure to members of that nation is also represented at the present day in their synagogues when they cover themselves with shawls or veils.

[2] Something similar was also represented by the skin on Moses' face shining when he came down from Mount Sinai, so that he covered himself with a veil every time he spoke to the people, Exodus 34:28-end. Moses represented the Word that is called the Law, see Preface to Chapter 18; and that is why sometimes the expression 'the Law and the Prophets' is used, as in Matthew 5:17; 11:13; 22:36, 40, and sometimes 'Moses and the Prophets', as in Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27, 44. The skin shining on his face represented the inner reality of the Word, for 'the face' means that which is internal, 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 4797; for being spiritual, that inner reality dwells in the light of heaven. The veiling of his face every time he spoke to the people represented the fact that for members of that nation internal truth was covered and thus was rendered obscure so that they would not be exposed to any light at all from it.