9595. 'Ten curtains' means all the truths of which it consists. This is clear from the meaning of 'ten' as all, dealt with in 4638, so that 'a tenth part', which is one curtain, means a sufficient amount, 8468, 8540; and from the meaning of 'curtains' as the interior truths of faith which belong to the new understanding. For 'the dwelling-place' means the middle or second heaven, which is heaven by virtue of its reception of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, as shown above in 9594; consequently the curtains of which it was assembled and which enveloped it are the truths of faith belonging to the new understanding. They are interior truths, because exterior truths are meant by the curtains made from [the hair of] goats for the tent going all the way round, which are also dealt with in the present chapter.

[2] The fact that 'curtains' are the truths of faith which those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom possess is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Isaiah,

Sing, O barren one that did not bear; for the sons of her that is desolate will be more than the sons of her that is married. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwelling-places. Lengthen the ropes, because you will break out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations. Isaiah 54:1-3.

This refers to the Church to be established among the gentiles, which is called 'a barren one that did not bear' because it lacks truths from the Word, 9325. It says that 'her sons will be more than those of her that is married' because it will have more truths than the devastated former Church had; for 'sons' are truths, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 3373, 3704. 'Enlarging the place of the tent' stands for the holiness of worship springing from the good of love, 3312, 4391, 4599, 'stretching out the curtains of dwelling-places' for the holiness of worship springing from the truths of faith.

[3] In Jeremiah,

The whole land has been laid waste. Suddenly My tents have been laid waste, My curtains in a moment. Jeremiah 4:20.

'A land laid waste' stands for the Church, 9325, 'tents laid waste' for the holiness of worship springing from the good of love, 'curtains laid waste' for holy worship springing from the truths of faith.

[4] In the same prophet,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My ropes torn away. My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. There is no one stretching out My tent any more, and setting up My curtains. For the shepherds have become stupid. Jeremiah 10:20-21.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

Arise and go up against Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the east. They will take their tents and flocks, their curtains and all their vessels, and bear their camels away for themselves. Jeremiah 49:28-29.

'Arabia' and 'the sons of the east' stand for those with cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, 3249; 'taking tents and flocks' stands for taking the Church's forms of interior good, 8937, 'taking curtains' for taking the Church's interior truths, 'their vessels' the Church's exterior truths, 3068, 3079, 'camels' general facts, 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. In Habakkuk,

Below Aven I saw the tents of Cushan; the curtains of Midian shook. Habakkuk 3:7.

'The curtains of Midian' stands for the truths with those governed by simple good, 3242, 4756, 4788, 6773, 6775.

[5] All this shows what is meant by the following in David,

O Jehovah, You have put on glory and honour - He who covers Himself with light, as if with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a curtain. Psalms 104:1-2.

'Covering Himself with light, as if with a garment' stands for Divine Truths. Truth is meant by 'light', see 9548, and also by 'a garment', 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 9093, 9212, 9216; therefore 'stretching out the heavens like a curtain' means enlarging the heavens by means of an influx of God's truth, from which come intelligence and wisdom. 'Stretching and spreading out the heavens' has reference to the new or regenerated understanding part of the mind, see at the end of the very next paragraph, 9596.

10605. 'And be ready by the morning; and you shall come up to Mount Sinai' means a new beginning in the revelation of Divine Truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'the morning' as a rising state or a beginning, here a new beginning, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Mount Sinai' as heaven, from which Divine Truth flows, and so revelation comes, dealt with in 8805, 8931, 9420. The reason why 'the morning' means a rising state or a beginning is that states are meant by all times and seasons, because in heaven they have no thought of any time or season, only of the changes of state that affections and consequent thoughts undergo, and changes of state there are like the times of day, which are morning, midday, evening, and night, the morning being that from which they begin. It may come as a surprise to everyone that in heaven there are no times or seasons, when yet those there live among one another as people do in the world, though they are different from them so far as intelligence, wisdom, and blessedness are concerned. But the reason is that the light there radiating from the sun, which is the Lord, does not undergo daily changes like the light from the sun in the world. Instead it varies in accordance with the states of love and faith among the angels, who undergo changes of state like the states of heat, light, and shade every day on earth. Why this should be so is that the light there from the Sun, which is the Lord, is Divine Truth, and the heat from that Sun is love. Angels are affected by these just as people are in the world by the conditions of light and heat.

The light in heaven comes from the Lord as the Sun there, see in the places referred to in 9548, 9684.

That light is Divine Truth, which is the source of the intelligence and wisdom that angels and men possess, in the places referred to in 9548, 9684, 9571(end), 10569.

Times and seasons there are states, in the places referred to in 10133.

In heaven states are varied like the times of day and seasons of the year in the world, 5962, 8426.

Morning comes at the beginning of those states, and so is a new beginning, 8427, 10114.

In heaven there is the state of evening and twilight, but no state of night, 6110.