3164. And the servant brought forth vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments. That this signifies truth and good, and their adornments, is evident from the signification of “vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments,” in the internal sense. (That “silver” signifies truth, may be seen above, n. 1551, 2048; also that “gold” signifies good, n. 113, 1551, 1552.) “Vessels” of silver and “vessels” of gold are here mentioned, because they are predicated of the affection of truth, which here is “Rebekah;” for regarded in itself truth is but a vessel or recipient of good (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3068); “vessels of silver” specifically are memory-knowledges, for these are recipients of truth; “vessels of gold” specifically are truths, for these are recipients of good; and that “garments” denote adornments, is evident without explication. In ancient times such things were given to a virgin when she was betrothed; and this because of the representation and signification in order that the betrothed virgin might represent the truth of the church that is to be conjoined with good. So also is described the Ancient Church, in its first age.

In Ezekiel:

When it was the time of loves, I clothed thee with broidered work, I girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk, I decked thee also with ornament, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace upon thy throat, and I put a jewel upon thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a crown of adornment upon thy head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and broidered work (Ezekiel 16:8-13).

And when the same church fell away from truth and good, it is thus described in the same chapter:

Thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places with diverse colors; thou didst take the vessels of thine adornment, of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male; and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them (Ezekiel 16:16-18).

From these passages it plainly appears that “silver, gold, and garments” denote nothing else than the things which are of the church, namely, truth and good, and the things which are of truth and good.

2063. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name. That this signifies that He will put off the human, and will put on the Divine, is evident from what was said of Abraham above (verse 5), where occur the words, “thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham,” by which in like manner there is signified that He will put off the human, and will put on the Divine (see n. 2009). For the letter H which was added to the name “Sarah,” was taken from the name “Jehovah,” so that Sarah, like Abraham, should represent the Lord’s Divine; and that thus should be represented the Divine marriage of Good with Truth in the Lord—Abraham representing the Divine Good, and Sarah the Divine Truth—from which should be born the Divine Rational, which is Isaac.

[2] The Divine Good, which is Love, and which in regard to the whole human race is Mercy, was the Lord’s Internal, that is, Jehovah, who is itself: this is represented by Abraham. The truth that was to be conjoined with the Divine Good was represented by Sarai; and this truth when also made Divine is represented by Sarah; for the Lord advanced to union with Jehovah successively, as already said. The truth not yet Divine represented by Sarai, was such when it was not yet so united to good as to be truth from good. But when it was so united to good as to proceed from good, it was then Divine; and the truth itself was then also good, because it was the truth of good. The truth which tends to good in order that it may be united to good, is one thing; and that which is so united to good as to proceed wholly from good, is another. The truth which is tending to good still derives something from the human; but that which is wholly united to good has put off all that is human, and has put on the Divine.

[3] This may be illustrated as before, by what is similar with man. When a man is being regenerated, that is, when he is to be conjoined with the Lord, he proceeds to the conjunction by means of truth, that is, by means of the truths of faith; for no one can be regenerated except by means of the knowledges of faith, which are the truths by means of which he proceeds to conjunction. The Lord goes to meet these by means of good, that is, by means of charity, and adjusts and fits this in to the knowledges of faith, that is, to its truths; for all truths are recipient vessels of good, and therefore the more genuine the truths are, and the more they are multiplied, the more abundantly can good accept them as vessels, reduce them to order, and finally manifest itself; so that at last the truths do not appear, except insofar as good shines through them. In this way truth becomes the celestial spiritual.

As the Lord is present solely in the good which is of charity, the man is in this way conjoined with the Lord, and by means of good, that is, by means of charity, is gifted with conscience, from which he afterwards thinks what is true and does what is right; but this conscience is in accordance with the truths and right things into which the good or charity is adjusted and fitted.