9467. 'And purple' means the celestial love of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'purple' as the celestial love of good, the reason why this love is meant by 'purple' being that by the colour red the good of celestial love is meant. For there are two basic colours from which all others are derived, the colour red and the colour white. The colour red means good which belongs to love, while the colour white means truth which belongs to faith. The reason why red means good belonging to love is that this colour exists before all else as fire, and fire means the good of love; and the reason why white means truth belonging to faith is that before all else that colour is light, and light means the truth of faith.

'Fire' means the good of love, see 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 9434.

'Light' means the truth of faith, 2776, 3195, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 5400, 8644, 8707, 8861, 9399, 9407.

'Red' means the good of love, 3300.

'White' means the truth of faith, 3993, 4007, 5319.

[2] From all this it is evident what all other colours mean; for in the measure that they are derived from red they mean good belonging to love, and in the measure that they are derived from white they mean truth belonging to faith. All the colours that appear in heaven are modifications of heavenly light and flame, on those two levels. For heavenly light is real light; and essentially it is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. Therefore modifications of that light and flame are different variations of truth and good, and so of intelligence and wisdom.

[3] All this now shows how it came about that the veils and curtains of the tent, and also Aaron's garments, were to be woven out of violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and linen thread, Exodus 25:4; 26:31, 36; 27:16; 28:6, 15, namely in order that celestial realities belonging to good and spiritual realities belonging to truth, which are the subject in what follows below, might be represented by them.

[4] Good from a celestial origin is again meant by 'purple' in Ezekiel,

Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail; violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering. Ezekiel 27:7.

This refers to Tyre, by which cognitions or knowledge of truth and good are meant. 'Violet and purple covering' stands for cognitions of truth and good from a heavenly origin.

[5] Similar things are meant by 'purple and fine linen' in Luke,

There was a certain rich man (homo) who was clothed in purple and fine linen and indulged in delicacies splendidly every day. Luke 16:19.

'A rich man' is used to mean in the internal sense the Jewish nation, and the Church there, which was said to be 'rich' because of the cognitions or knowledge of good and truth from the Word which existed there. Garments of 'purple and fine linen' are those cognitions, 'of purple' meaning cognitions of good, and 'of fine linen' cognitions of truth, both from a heavenly origin because they come from the Divine. 'Purple' also has a similar meaning in the Book of Revelation,

The woman sitting on a scarlet beast was clothed in purple and scarlet. Revelation 17:3-4.

This refers to Babylon, which means the Church where the holy things of the Word are put to unholy ends, that is, to exercising control in heaven and on earth, and so to ends that spring from hellish self-love and love of the world.

9433. 'From the middle of the cloud' means from the obscurity which existed before. This is clear from the meaning of 'the cloud' as the lowest level of the Word, which is obscure, comparatively so, dealt with above in 9430. 'The cloud' has this meaning because Divine Truth emanating from the Lord cannot possibly appear with the actual brightness it possesses. If it did a person would be destroyed; for his understanding would be completely blinded by the light of truth, and his will would be completely wiped out by the fire of good, so that everything composing his life would be annihilated. This explains why Divine Truth is adjusted to everyone's understanding and is covered as though by a cloud, even among angels, 6849. Among spirits that covering manifests itself as a cloud, the thick or thin texture of which is determined by the way each one receives that Truth.

[2] This is meant by the following in Isaiah,

Jehovah creates over every habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a hut for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and hiding-place from deluge and rain. Isaiah 4:5-6.

'Habitation of Mount Zion' means heaven and the Church. 'Her assemblies' means forms of good and truths. 'A cloud by day', 'smoke by night', and 'a covering' mean the veiling of God's truth, thus the adjustment of it to the ability to understand it, 'the glory' over which the covering will lie meaning Divine Truth which comes from the Lord, see above in 9429. 'A hut' means the lowest level of God's truth which conceals more internal levels, the words 'will be for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge from deluge and rain' meaning in order that a person may be safe from harm.

[3] Another description of the veiling of Divine Truth occurs in David,

O Jehovah my God, You are very great! You have put on glory and honour - He who covers Himself with light, as if with a garment, who lays the beams for His upper chambers on the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who sets the earth on its bases in order that it may never be moved. ¹ You have covered it with the deep as if with a garment. You have set a boundary in order that they may not pass over. Psalms 104:1-6, 9.

'Glory and honour' which Jehovah, that is, the Lord, has put on is Divine Truth, 9429. 'Light' with which He covers Himself, as if with a garment, is Divine Truth as it exists in heaven and in the Church; for in the Word Divine Truth is meant by 'light', see the places quoted above in 9429. 'Upper chambers' for which He lays beams on the waters are heavenly communities; and 'the waters' are truths, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568, 9323. 'The clouds' which He makes His chariot are the truths from which doctrinal teachings are formed, 'chariot' meaning doctrinal teachings, see 5321, 8215. 'The earth' which, it says, is set on its bases in order that it may never be moved is the Church; for 'the earth' in the Word means the Church, see the places quoted in 9325. 'The bases' on which it is set are truths on lowest levels, such as exist in the Word, in its literal sense; therefore it says 'in order that it may never be moved'. 'The deep' with which it is covered as if with a garment is factual knowledge of truth for the natural man, 6431, 8278; and from this it is evident what 'the boundary' set in order that they may not pass over is, namely the lowest level of God's truth in which interior things end and on which as their support and foundation they stand and rest, as has been stated.

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