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Exodus 27

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1 `And thou hast made the altar of shittim wood, five cubits the length, and five cubits the breadth -- the altar is square -- and three cubits its height.

2 And thou hast made its horns on its four corners, its horns are of the same, and thou hast overlaid it [with] brass.

3 And thou hast made its pots to remove its ashes, and its shovels, and its bowls, and its forks, and its fire-pans, even all its vessels thou dost make of brass.

4 `And thou hast made for it a grate of net-work of brass, and hast made on the net four rings of brass on its four extremities,

5 and hast put it under the compass of the altar beneath, and the net hath been unto the middle of the altar.

6 `And thou hast made staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them [with] brass.

7 And the staves have been brought into the rings, and the staves have been on the two sides of the altar in bearing it.

8 Hollow with boards thou dost make it, as it hath been shewed thee in the mount, so do they make [it].

9 `And thou hast made the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward, hangings for the court of twined linen, a hundred by the cubit [is] the length for the one side,

10 and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [are] of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] of silver;

11 and so for the north side in length, hangings of a hundred [cubits] in length, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets [are] of brass, the pegs of the pillars and their fillets [are] of silver.

12 `And [for] the breadth of the court at the west side [are] hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten.

13 And [for] the breadth of the court at the east side, eastward, [are] fifty cubits.

14 And the hangings at the side [are] fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15 And at the second side [are] hangings fifteen [cubits], their pillars three, and their sockets three.

16 `And for the gate of the court a covering of twenty cubits, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of an embroiderer; their pillars four, their sockets four.

17 All the pillars of the court round about [are] filleted [with] silver, their pegs [are] silver, and their sockets brass.

18 `The length of the court [is] a hundred by the cubit, and the breadth fifty by fifty, and the height five cubits, of twined linen, and their sockets [are] brass,

19 even all the vessels of the tabernacle, in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, [are] brass.

20 `And thou -- thou dost command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to go up continually;

21 in the tent of meeting, at the outside of the vail, which [is] over the testimony, doth Aaron -- his sons also -- arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah -- a statute age-during to their generations, from the sons of Israel.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4922

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4922. 'And bound on his hand a twice-dyed thread' means that a sign was placed on it, namely on that power - 'twice-dyed' meaning good. This is clear from the meaning of 'binding on the hand' as placing a sign on power, for 'the hand' means power, 4920; and from the meaning of 'twice-dyed' as good, in particular spiritual good. The reason 'twice-dyed' means spiritual good is that this expression describes a shade of scarlet, and in the next life whenever one sees scarlet spiritual good is meant, which is the good of charity towards the neighbour. For all colours clearly visible in the next life mean something connected with good and truth since they are products of the light of heaven, which essentially is wisdom and intelligence flowing from the Lord's Divine. The variegations or modifications of that light are consequently variegations and so to speak modifications of wisdom and intelligence, and therefore of good and truth. For details about the light in heaven flowing from the Lord's Divine wisdom and intelligence, where the Lord is seen as the Sun, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3337, 3339, 3340, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4180, 4214, 4302, 4405, 4408, 4413, 4415, 4523-4533; and for details about colours having their origin in that light and about their being variegations and modifications of that light, and therefore of intelligence and wisdom, 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4677, 4742.

[2] As regards 'twice-dyed' meaning spiritual good, this is evident from places in the Word where this expression is used, as in Jeremiah,

If therefore you have been laid waste, what will you do? If you clothe yourself in twice-dyed and deck yourself with ornaments of gold, in vain will you make yourself beautiful; your lovers will abhor you. Jeremiah 4:30.

This refers to Judah. 'Clothing yourself in twice-dyed' stands for spiritual good, 'decking yourself with ornaments of gold' for celestial good. In 2 Samuel,

David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan, and wrote it down that they teach the children of Judah the bow. Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in twice-dyed delicately, 1 and placed an ornament of gold on your apparel. 2 Samuel 1:17-18, 24.

Here 'teaching the bow' stands for teaching the doctrine of love and charity, for 'the bow' means that doctrine. 'Clothing in twice-dyed' stands for spiritual good, as previously, and 'placing an ornament of gold on one's apparel' for celestial good.

[3] Such being the meaning of 'twice-dyed', instructions were also given to use twice-dyed scarlet on the curtains of the Dwelling-place, the veil, the covering for the door of the tent, the covering to the gate of the court, the table of the Presence when they were about to set out, Aaron's sacred vestments such as the ephod, the breastplate of judgement, and the fringes of the robe of the ephod:

The curtains of the Dwelling-place

You shall make for the Dwelling-place ten curtains - fine-twined linen, and violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet. Exodus 26:1.

The veil

You shall make a veil of violet and purple, and of twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen. Exodus 26:31.

The covering for the door of the tent

You shall make a covering for the door of the tent, of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet, and of fine-twined linen. Exodus 26:36.

[4] The covering to the gate of the court

For the gate of the court you shall make a covering of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. Exodus 27:16.

The table of the Presence when they were about to set out

When the camp sets out they shall spread over the table of the Presence a cloth of twice-dyed scarlet, and shall cover this with a covering of badger skin. Numbers 4:8.

The ephod

You shall make an ephod out of gold, violet and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet, fine-twined linen, the work of a craftsman; and the girdle similarly. Exodus 28:5-6, 8; 39:2-3.

The breastplate of judgement

You shall make the breastplate of judgement, the work of a craftsman, like the work of the ephod, out of gold, violet, and purple. and twice-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen. Exodus 28:15.

The fringes of the robe of the ephod

Pomegranates of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet. Exodus 28:33.

[5] It was because the Tent of Meeting with the Ark in it represented heaven that the colours mentioned in these places were required. They meant in their order celestial and spiritual things, as follows: 'Violet and purple' meant celestial kinds of good and truth, 'twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen' spiritual kinds of good and truth. Anyone believing that the Word is holy can recognize that each has a specific meaning, and anyone believing that the Word is holy for the reason that it has been sent down from the Lord by way of heaven can recognize that the celestial and spiritual things belonging to His kingdom are meant. Similar instructions were given, in cleansings from leprosy, to use 'cedarwood, scarlet, and hyssop', Leviticus 14:4, 6, 52; and to cast 'cedarwood and hyssop and twice-dyed of purple' on to the fire in which the red heifer was being burned, from which the water of separation was prepared, Numbers 19:6.

[6] The profanation of good and truth is described by similar words in John,

I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names. It had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet. and covered 2 with gold and precious stones and pearls. holding in her hand a golden cup, full of abominations and the uncleanness of whoredom. Revelation 17:3-4.

And after this,

Woe, woe, the great city, you that were clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and covered' with gold and precious stones and pearls. Revelation 18:16.

This refers to 'Babel' by which the profanation of good is meant, 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326, in this case the profanation both of good and of truth, which is 'Babylonian'. Among the Prophets in the Old Testament 'Babel' describes the profanation of good and 'Chaldea' the profanation of truth.

[7] In the contrary sense 'scarlet' means the evil that is the contrary of spiritual good, as in Isaiah,

Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, 3 they will be as wool. Isaiah 1:18.

The reason 'scarlet' means this evil is that 'blood', likewise, because of its red colour, in the genuine sense means spiritual good or charity towards the neighbour, and in the contrary sense violence done to charity, 374, 1005.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, with delights

2. literally, gilded

3. literally, purple

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.