2576. Here now, for you it is a veil over the eyes of everyone who is with you means that rational truth resembles a veil or garment for spiritual truth, as can be seen from the following: The symbolism of a veil is dealt with just below. The eyes symbolize the contents of the intellect, as is plain from very many passages in the Word. And seeing symbolizes understanding (§§2150, 2325).
Anyone can tell that the individual parts of this verse hold secrets that can be unfolded only from some kind of inner meaning. For instance, it says Abimelech gave a thousand pieces of silver, and that he gave it not to Sarah's husband but to her brother. He describes this as a veil over the eyes both of herself and of everyone who was with her, and in fact of everyone else too. And he says that this would vindicate her. Many guesses could be made from the literal words about the story's meaning, but none of them would contain anything spiritual, let alone divine; and the Word is divine.
[2] Here is why rational truth is like a veil or garment for spiritual truth: Whatever is deepest inside us belongs to our soul. What is on the surface belongs to our body. The things that are deepest inside are good urges and true thoughts, and our soul takes its life from them; otherwise the soul would not be a soul. Things on the surface take their life from the soul. They resemble a body or, to put the same thing another way, a veil or garment.
This is easiest to see from sights that appear in the other world, as, for instance, from angels. When they are presented to view, their inner depths shine out from their face. Their more external traits are represented both in their body and in their dress, so much so that everyone there can tell another's character simply from her or his clothing. The clothes are made of real substance, so they consist of an essence as it exists in a form.
The same is true of angels who appeared to people and whose faces and clothes are described in the Word. Take, for instance, those seen in the Lord's tomb (Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5), the twenty-four elders around the throne (Revelation 4:4, 5), and others. Moreover, it is true not only of angels but also of everything else mentioned in the Word, even if it is inanimate; its outer part is a veil or garment. Take the ark of the covenant and the tent that surrounded it. The ark, which was at the center, represented the Lord himself, because it held the testimony, while the tent, which was outside it, represented the Lord's kingdom. Its hangings, or its veils and coverings, together and individually, represented the outward manifestations of heavenly and spiritual qualities in that kingdom, specifically in the three heavens. This can be deduced from the fact that the plan for all of it was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9; 26:30). That is what gave the place its holiness, not the gold, silver, and carvings in it.
[3] Since the subject here is rational truth in its role as a veil or garment for spiritual truth, and Moses describes the hangings or coverings for the tent, including the veils over the entrance, let me explain the specific symbolism of those veils by way of illustration. (The symbolism of the overall coverings will be told elsewhere, with the Lord's divine mercy.)
There were three veils there. The first divided the Holy Place from the Holiest Place. The second is called the curtain for the door of the tent. The third is called the curtain for the gate of the courtyard.
[4] This is what Moses says about the first, the true veil hiding the ark:
You shall make a veil of blue-violet and red-violet and double-dyed scarlet and interwoven byssus, a work well designed; you shall make it with [images of] the guardian beings. And you shall place it on four pillars of sheetim overlaid with gold, whose hooks shall be of gold, on four bases of silver. And you shall place the veil under the clasps. And you shall bring in there, within the veil, the ark of the testimony; and the veil shall distinguish for you between the Holy Place and the Holiest Place. (Exodus 26:31, 32, 33, 34; 36:35, 36)
This veil represented the first and deepest face of rational goodness and truth–rational goodness and truth as angels of the third heaven see it. The blue-violet, red-violet, double-dyed scarlet, and interwoven byssus give a picture of it. The red in those materials represented the good effects of love; the white represented the truth that emerges from love. The gold and silver in the overlay on the pillars and in the hooks and bases represented the same thing. For the fact that colors represent something, see §§1042, 1043, 1053, 1624. For the fact that gold is the good that comes of love, see §§113, 1551, 1552. For the fact that silver is truth, see §§1551, 2048.
[5] From this you can see what the rending of the veil in the Temple symbolizes (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45). It means that the Lord entered into true divinity after banishing all illusions. He also gave us access to divinity itself by making his humanity divine.
[6] This is what Moses says about the second veil, or the curtain for the door of the tent:
You shall make a curtain for the doorway of the tent out of blue-violet and red-violet and double-dyed scarlet and interwoven byssus, the work of an embroiderer. And you shall make for the curtain five pillars of sheetim, and you shall overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold; and you shall cast for them five bases of bronze. (Exodus 26:36, 37; 36:37, 38)
This curtain represented the way goodness and truth appears on a plane that is lower or shallower than the first–the plane of an intermediate kind of rationality. This is what angels of the second heaven are devoted to. It is depicted in almost the same terms, but with the difference that for this curtain there were five pillars and five bases. Five symbolizes a relatively small amount, because this appearance of goodness and truth is not as consistent or consequently as heavenly as that in the deepest or third heaven. For the symbolism of five as a little, see §§649, 1686. Since this face of goodness and truth looks toward earthly values, they were commanded to cast the bases of bronze, because bronze represented and symbolized an earthly kind of goodness (§§425, 1551).
[7] This is what Moses says about the third veil, or the curtain for the gate of the courtyard:
For the gate of the courtyard a curtain, twenty cubits, of blue-violet and red-violet and double-dyed scarlet and interwoven byssus, the work of an embroiderer. The pillars [for the hangings], four; their bases, four; all the pillars of the courtyard all around strapped with silver, their hooks of silver but their bases of bronze. (Exodus 27:16, 17; 38:18, 19)
This curtain represented the way goodness and truth appears on a plane that is still lower or shallower–the plane of the lowliest kind of rationality. This is what angels of the first heaven are devoted to. Because it corresponds to the appearances on deeper planes, it is depicted in similar terms but with a difference: The pillars were not overlaid with gold but banded with silver, and the hooks were made of silver, symbolizing rational truth that traces its origin directly to facts. In addition, the bases were of bronze, symbolizing earthly goodness.
You can see from this that every feature of the tent without exception represented the heavenly and spiritual qualities of the Lord's kingdom. In other words, it was all designed to model the heavenly and spiritual qualities of the three heavens. You can also see that the hangings or coverings symbolized those aspects that surround the central core, or stand outside it, like a body or garment.
[8] Coverings, wraps, and garments or clothes symbolize truth that is relatively lowly, as many passages in the Word show. In Ezekiel, for example:
Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt was what you spread out; blue-violet and red-violet fabric from the islands of Elishah was your covering. (Ezekiel 27:7)
This is about Tyre, which symbolizes a relatively deep knowledge of what is heavenly and spiritual and therefore people who have that knowledge (§1201). Embroidery from Egypt stands for secular facts. (For the symbolism of Egypt as secular facts, see §§1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.) Blue-violet and red-violet fabric from the islands of Elishah, serving as a covering, stand for ritual that corresponds to inward worship (§1156).
[9] In the same author:
All the chieftains of the sea will come down from upon their thrones and take off their robes, and their embroidered clothes they will shed. They will be dressed in terror. They will sit on the land. (Ezekiel 26:16)
This too is about Tyre. The robes and embroidered clothes stand for religious knowledge based on secular facts, and therefore for a lower kind of truth.
[10] In the same author:
I clothed you with embroidery and gave you shoes of badger and swathed you in fine linen and covered you in silk and decked you in finery and put bracelets on your hands and a necklace on your throat. You took some of your clothes and made yourself colorful high places and whored on them. You took embroidered clothes and covered [the images]. (Ezekiel 16:10, 11, 16, 18)
This is about Jerusalem, which symbolizes a spiritual religion. It is portrayed as it was in ancient times and also as it later became, after it had been corrupted. Its lowlier spiritual attributes and doctrines are the clothes made of embroidery, fine linen, and silk.
[11] In Isaiah:
The Lord Jehovah Sabaoth is taking away out of Jerusalem and of Judah the whole staff of bread and the staff of water. Then a man will grab his brother of his parents' house: "You have a garment! You will be chieftain to us." He will take up [his answer] on that day, saying, "I will not be a binder [of wounds], and in my house there is no bread and no clothing. You are not to make me chief of the people." The Lord will cause a rash on the crown of the head of Zion's daughters. And on that day the Lord will take away the finery of the foot jewels and of the reticules and of the moon ornaments and of the pendants and of the chains and of the bangles; and the headdresses and the anklets and the sashes and the soul-houses and the earrings; the rings and the nose ornaments, the ceremonial clothing and the robes and the mantles and the needle cases, the mirrors and the muslins and the turbans and the wraps. (Isaiah 3:1, 6, 7, 17-24)
Jerusalem stands for a spiritual religion, and Judah, for a heavenly one. The staff of bread and the staff of water that will be taken away stand for goodness and truth. The garment belonging to the chieftain stands for truth taught by doctrine. The various kinds of clothing and other finery listed as belonging to Zion's daughters are all the categories and types of goodness and truth that would be stripped from them. If each of the items mentioned did not symbolize some particular aspect of religion, it would not be part of Scripture, every word of which holds something divine. They are ascribed to Zion's daughters, who symbolize attributes of religion, as may be seen in §2362.
[12] In the same author:
Wake up! Wake up! Put on your strength, Zion! Put on your finest clothes, Jerusalem, you holy city, because the uncircumcised and unclean will not come into you any longer. (Isaiah 52:1, 2)
Zion stands for a heavenly religion; Jerusalem, for a spiritual one. The fine clothes stand for the holy qualities of faith. In the same author:
Their webs are not for clothing, and they are not dressed in their works; their works are works of wickedness. (Isaiah 59:6)
The webs stand for ideas that people pretend are true, which are not "for clothing"; clothing stands for the more superficial truth present in doctrine and worship. That is why it says they are not dressed in their works.
[13] In the same author:
I will rejoice greatly in Jehovah; my soul will exult in my God, because he will dress me in clothes of salvation; with a robe of righteousness has he covered me. (Isaiah 61:10)
Clothes of salvation stand for religious truth. A robe of righteousness stands for neighborly goodness. In John:
You have a few names also in Sardis that have not defiled their clothes and will walk with me in white because they are worthy. Those who conquer will be dressed in white clothes. (Revelation 3:4, 5)
In the same author:
Fortunate are those who are watchful and keep their clothes, to avoid walking naked. (Revelation 16:15)
In the same author:
On the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white clothes. (Revelation 4:4, 5)
The clothes are obviously not clothes; they are spiritual qualities that have to do with truth.
[14] The same applies to the Lord's words concerning the close of the age: that people should not turn back behind to take their clothes (Matthew 24:18; Mark 13:16). For the fact that the clothes in this verse are truth, see §2454. The same also applies to the Lord's remarks about the person who failed to dress in wedding clothes (Matthew 22:11, 12) and to his words about John:
What did you go out to see? A person dressed in glistening clothes? People who wear glistening clothes are in the houses of monarchs. (Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:25)
This stands for people who involve themselves in the inward depths of doctrine and worship rather than the outward show, which is why it adds:
What did you go out to see? A prophet? I tell you, even more than a prophet. (Matthew 11:9)
The prophet stands for the outward aspects of doctrine and worship.
[15] Since clothes symbolized truth of every sort, the children of Israel were given several commands regarding clothing. When they left Egypt, they were to borrow gold and silver and clothes and put these on their children (Exodus 3:22; 12:35, 36). They were not to wear clothes of multiple types, that is, of mixed fibers (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:11). And they were to make themselves tassels on the edges of their clothes, put a blue-violet thread there, and remember and do the commandments when they saw it (Numbers 15:38, 39, 40).
[16] In time past they also tore their clothes, as is clear from Joshua 7:6; Judges 11:35; 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2, 11, 12; 3:31; 13:30, 31; 15:32; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 5:7, 8; 6:30; 22:11, 14, 19; Isaiah 36:22; 37:1. This symbolized a wound to the person's zeal for doctrine and for the truth. It also symbolized a humble awareness that what elegant clothes symbolize was lacking.
[17] The prophecy of Jacob (who by then was Israel) also makes it clear that coverings, wraps, and garments or clothes have this symbolism:
He will tie his young animal to the grapevine and his jenny's foal to the choice vine. He will wash his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. (Genesis 49:11)
Without the help of the inner meaning, no one can see what is meant by these things–the grapevine, the choice vine, the young animal, the jenny's foal, the wine, the blood of grapes, the clothing, and the garment. Clearly it concerns the Lord, who is called Shiloh here. The subject of the prophecy is Judah, who represents the Lord's heavenly divinity. The clothing that he would wash in wine and the garment that he would wash in the blood of grapes symbolize the Lord's rational and earthly dimensions, which he would make divine.
[18] Likewise in Isaiah:
Who is this coming from Edom, stained in his clothes, from Bozrah, this one who is honorable in his apparel, marching in the abundance of his strength? Why is your garment red, and why is your clothing like that of one treading in the winepress? "And the winepress I have trodden, I alone, and from among the peoples there was not anyone with me. My victory over them was spattered on my clothes, and all my garb I defiled." (Isaiah 63:1, 2, 3)
Here too the garments and clothing stand for the Lord's humanity, which he made divine by his own power, through inward struggles and victories. That is why it says, "The winepress I have trodden, I alone, and from among the peoples there was not anyone with me." The fact that Isaac smelled the smell of Esau's clothes and so gave a blessing (Genesis 27:27) involves much the same meaning.
[19] The actual holiness of the Lord's divine humanity was also a garment, one that appeared like light and was dazzling white when he was transfigured. This is what Matthew says about it:
When Jesus was transfigured, his face shone like the sun; his clothes became like the light. (Matthew 17:2)
In Luke:
When Jesus prayed, the appearance of his face became different; his garment, dazzling white. (Luke 9:29)
And in Mark:
When Jesus was transfigured, his garments became radiant, very white, like snow, such as a fuller on earth could not whiten them. (Mark 9:3)
The garments of holiness that Aaron wore when he entered inside the veil, which were linen, represented something similar (Leviticus 16:2, 4). Likewise the garments of holiness that were for glory and adornment, and the clothes of ministry, described in Exodus 28:2-end; 39:1-end. Every feature of those garments, without exception, represented something.
