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Exodus 28

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1 `And thou, bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from the midst of the sons of Israel, for his being priest to Me, [even] Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, sons of Aaron;

2 and thou hast made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for honour and for beauty;

3 and thou -- thou dost speak unto all the wise of heart, whom I have filled [with] a spirit of wisdom, and they have made the garments of Aaron to sanctify him for his being priest to Me.

4 `And these [are] the garments which they make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and an upper robe, and an embroidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle; yea, they have made holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and for his sons, for his being priest to Me.

5 `And they take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the linen,

6 and have made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer;

7 it hath two shoulders joining at its two ends, and it is joined.

8 `And the girdle of his ephod which [is] on him, according to its work, is of the same, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.

9 `And thou hast taken the two shoham stones, and hast opened on them the names of the sons of Israel;

10 six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their births;

11 the work of an engraver in stone, openings of a signet, thou dost open the two stones by the names of the sons of Israel; turned round, embroidered [with] gold, thou dost make them.

12 `And thou hast set the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod -- stones of memorial to the sons of Israel -- and Aaron hath borne their names before Jehovah, on his two shoulders, for a memorial.

13 `And thou hast made embroidered things of gold,

14 and two chains of pure gold, wreathed work thou dost make them, work of thick bands, and thou hast put the thick chains on the embroidered things.

15 `And thou hast made a breastplate of judgment, work of a designer; according to the work of the ephod thou dost make it; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen thou dost make it;

16 it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth.

17 `And thou hast set in it settings of stone, four rows of stone; a row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle [is] the first row;

18 and the second row [is] emerald, sapphire, and diamond;

19 and the third row [is] opal, agate, and amethyst;

20 and the fourth row [is] beryl, and onyx, and jasper; embroidered with gold are they in their settings,

21 and the stones are according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to their names, openings of a signet, each by his name are they for the twelve tribes.

22 `And thou hast made on the breastplate wreathed chains, work of thick bands, of pure gold;

23 and thou hast made on the breastplate two rings of gold, and hast put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate;

24 and thou hast put the two thick bands of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate;

25 and the two ends of the two thick bands thou dost put on the two embroidered things, and thou hast put [them] on the shoulders of the ephod over-against its face.

26 `And thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its border, which [is] over-against the ephod within;

27 and thou hast made two rings of gold, and hast put them on the two shoulders of the ephod, beneath, over-against its front, over-against its joining, above the girdle of the ephod,

28 and they bind the breastplate by its rings unto the rings of the ephod with a ribbon of blue, to be above the girdle of the ephod, and the breastplate is not loosed from the ephod.

29 `And Aaron hath borne the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment, on his heart, in his going in unto the sanctuary, for a memorial before Jehovah continually.

30 `And thou hast put unto the breastplate of judgment the Lights and the Perfections, and they have been on the heart of Aaron, in his going in before Jehovah, and Aaron hath borne the judgment of the sons of Israel on his heart before Jehovah continually.

31 `And thou hast made the upper robe of the ephod completely of blue,

32 and the opening for its head hath been in its midst, a border is to its opening round about, work of a weaver, as the opening of a habergeon there is to it; it is not rent.

33 `And thou hast made on its hem pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, on its hem round about, and bells of gold in their midst round about;

34 a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate [are] on the hems of the upper robe round about.

35 `And it hath been on Aaron to minister in, and its sound hath been heard in his coming in unto the sanctuary before Jehovah, and in his going out, and he doth not die.

36 `And thou hast made a flower of pure gold, and hast opened on it -- openings of a signet -- `Holy to Jehovah;'

37 and thou hast put it on a blue ribbon, and it hath been on the mitre -- over-against the front of the mitre it is;

38 and it hath been on the forehead of Aaron, and Aaron hath borne the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel do hallow, even all their holy gifts; and it hath been on his forehead continually for a pleasing thing for them before Jehovah.

39 `And thou hast embroidered the coat of linen, and hast made a mitre of linen, and a girdle thou dost make -- work of an embroiderer.

40 `And for the sons of Aaron thou dost make coats, and thou hast made for them girdles, yea, bonnets thou dost make for them, for honour and for beauty;

41 and thou hast clothed Aaron thy brother with them, and his sons with him, and hast anointed them, and hast consecrated their hand, and hast sanctified them, and they have been priests to Me.

42 `And make thou for them linen trousers to cover the naked flesh: they are from the loins even unto the thighs;

43 and they have been on Aaron and on his sons, in their going in unto the tent of meeting, or in their drawing nigh unto the altar to minister in the sanctuary, and they do not bear iniquity nor have they died; a statute age-during to him, and to his seed after him.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 328

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328. Then white robes were given to each of them. (6:11) This symbolically means that they were given a communication and conjunction with angels who possessed Divine truths.

Garments symbolize truths (no. 166), and white garments symbolize genuine truths (no. 212). This is the symbolism of garments because all the inhabitants in heaven are clothed in accordance with the truths they possess, and every spirit has a garment in keeping with his conjunction with angelic societies. Consequently, when a conjunction exists, spirits instantly appear similarly clothed. So it is that white robes being given to each of the people here. This symbolically means that they were given a communication and conjunction with angels who possessed Divine truths.

Robes, gowns, and cloaks symbolize truths in general, because they are general coverings. Someone who knows this symbolism that these have can know the secrets that lie concealed in the following instances:

That when Elijah found Elisha, he threw his mantle on him (1 Kings 19:19).

That Elijah used his mantle to part the waters of the Jordan (2 Kings 2:8).

That Elisha did likewise (2 Kings 2:14).

That when Elijah was taken up, the mantle that was upon him fell, and Elisha picked it up (2 Kings 2:12-13)

For Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word, and therefore their mantle symbolized the Word's Divine truth in general.

That same person may know, too, what was symbolized by the robe of Aaron's ephod, on whose hem were pomegranates of blue and purple, and bells of gold (Exodus 28:31-35). It symbolized Divine truth in general, as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, no. 9825.

Mantles and robes have a similar symbolism in the following passages:

...all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones and cast aside their mantles... (Ezekiel 26:16)

(The scribes and Pharisees) to be seen by men... enlarge the borders of their mantles. (Matthew 23:5)

My people have set themselves as an enemy over a garment; you pull off the robe... from those who pass by... (Micah 2:8)

And so on elsewhere.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia # 9825

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9825. 'And a robe' means Divine Truth there in its inward form. This is clear from the meaning of 'a robe' as the middle of the spiritual kingdom, thus the actual truth that is there. For Aaron's garments represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom, 9814, and so represented the forms of truth present in their proper order there, 9822; and since that kingdom was divided into three degrees - the inmost, the middle, and the outermost - 'the robe' was a sign of what belongs in the middle of that kingdom. That kingdom was divided into three degrees because the inmost part there is in touch with the celestial [heaven], and the outermost with the natural; and the middle part thereby draws equally on both. Indeed for anything to be perfect it must be divided into three degrees. This is so with heaven, and it is so with the forms of good and truth there. As is well known, there are three heavens; consequently there are three degrees of good and truth there. Each heaven too is divided into three degrees. The inmost part of it must be in direct touch with what lies above, and the outermost with what lies below, and so the middle through them with what lies both above and below, all of which brings perfection to that heaven. The situation is just the same with a person's interiors. These in general have been divided into three degrees - into celestial, spiritual, and natural. And each of these has in like manner been divided into its own three degrees. For a person who has the good of faith and love to the Lord within him is heaven in the smallest form it takes, corresponding to the largest, 9279. The situation is also the same in everything belonging to the natural order. The natural level of a person too has been divided into three degrees, see 4570, as generally have all things present in him on interior and exterior levels, 4154. The reason why this should be so is that end, cause, and effect must be present everywhere. The end must be that which is inmost, the cause that which comes in the middle, and the effect that which is last, if a thing is to be perfect. This is why 'three' in the Word means what is complete from beginning to end, 2788, 4495, 7715, 9198, 9488, 9489. From all this people may know why Aaron's holy garments consisted of an ephod, a robe, and a tunic, and that the ephod represented the outermost part there, the robe the middle, and the tunic the inmost.

[2] Since the robe represented the middle in the spiritual kingdom, and the middle draws on both the other parts, this robe stood in a representative sense for that very kingdom, as in the first Book of Samuel,

Samuel turned to go away, but Saul took hold of the skirt of his robe, and it was torn away. Consequently Samuel said to him, Jehovah will tear away the kingdom of Israel from upon you this day, and He has given it to your companion, who is better than you. 1 Samuel 15:27-28.

From these words it is evident that the tearing off of the skirt of Samuel's robe was a sign of the tearing away of the kingdom of Israel from Saul; for 'the kingdom of Israel' means the Lord's spiritual kingdom, see 4286, 4598, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 8805. Something similar occurs again in the same book,

David secretly cut off the skirt of Saul's robe. And when he showed it to Saul, Saul said, Now I know that you will indeed reign, and the kingdom of Israel will be firmly established in your hand. 1 Samuel 24:4-5, 11, 20.

Also, when Jonathan made a covenant with David he took off the robe from upon himself and gave it to David, [with his armour,] even to his sword, bow, and belt, 1 Samuel 18:3-4. All this represented the renunciation of the kingdom of Israel by Jonathan, who was the heir, and his passing it over to David.

[3] Since the robe represented the spiritual kingdom, it also represented the truths of that kingdom generally, the truths of that kingdom being what are called the spiritual truths that are present in the understanding part of a person's mind. These truths are meant by 'robes' in Ezekiel, All the princes of the sea will step down from upon their thrones, and will cast away their robes and will strip off their embroidered garments. Ezekiel 26:16.

This refers to Tyre, by which cognitions or knowledge of good and truth are meant, 1201; the ruination of them in the Church is described here. 'The robes' which they will cast away are truths of faith present in the understanding part of the mind; but 'the embroidered garments' are truths on the level of factual knowledge that are present in the natural, 9688. The reason why those truths are meant is that in the Lord's spiritual kingdom truth, which belongs to the understanding, holds sway, whereas in His celestial kingdom good, which belongs to the will, holds sway. In Matthew,

The scribes and Pharisees do all their works to be seen by people, and they enlarge the hems of their robes. Matthew 23:5, 6.

'Enlarging the hems of robes' stands for speaking about truths in a majestic way solely in order that they may be heard and regarded by other people. The fact that such things are meant by 'a robe' will become clearer still from the description of it further on, in verses 31-35 of this chapter.

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