243. And white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, signifies genuine truths and intelligence therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "white garments," as being genuine truths, for garments signify truths (See above, n. 195), and "white" signifies what is genuine, and is predicated of truths (See above, n. 196); also from the signification of "to clothe," as being to acquire intelligence for oneself therefrom, for by means of genuine truths all intelligence is acquired; for the human understanding is formed to receive truths, therefore it becomes such as the truths are out of which it is formed. It is supposed that understanding is also the ability to reason from thought and to speak from falsities, and to confirm falsities by many arguments; but this is not understanding, it is only a faculty granted to man with the memory to which it is adjoined, and of which it is an activity. Yet by means of this faculty the understanding is born and formed, so far as man receives truths from affection; but genuine truths it is not possible for any man to receive from affection except only from the Lord, since they are from Him; consequently, to receive understanding, or to become intelligent, is not given to any man, except only from the Lord, but it is given to everyone who applies himself to receive (according to what was said above, n. 239. This, therefore, is signified by "I counsel thee to buy of Me white garments, that thou mayest be clothed."

To “dwell” somewhere, then, is significant – it’s much more than just visiting – but is less permanent than living there. And indeed, to dwell somewhere in the Bible represents entering that spiritual state and engaging it, but not necessary permanently. A “dwelling,” meanwhile, represents the various loves that inspire the person who inhabits it, from the most evil – “those dwelling in the shadow of death” in Isaiah 9, for example – to the exalted state of the tabernacle itself, which was built as a dwelling-place for the Lord and represents heaven in all its details. Many people were nomadic in Biblical times, especially the times of the Old Testament, and lived in tents that could be struck, moved and raised quickly. Others, of course, lived in houses, generally made of stone and wood and quite permanent. In between the two were larger, more elaborate tent-style structures called tabernacles or dwellings; the tabernacle Moses built for the Ark of the Covenant is on this model.