9596. 'From fine twined linen and violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet' means the spiritual and celestial realities from which those truths are derived. This is clear from the meaning of 'fine twined linen' as truth from a celestial origin, dealt with in 9469; from the meaning of 'violet' as the celestial love of truth, dealt with in 9466; from the meaning of 'purple' as the celestial love of good, dealt with in 9467; and from the meaning of 'twice-dyed scarlet' as spiritual good or the good of truth, dealt with in 9468. Such is the order in which the spiritual and celestial realities, or the truths and forms of good, present with a person or an angel who is in the middle or second heaven follow one another. For truth from a celestial origin, meant by 'fine twined linen' comes first; then the love of or affection for truth, meant by 'violet'; after that the resulting love of or affection for good, meant by 'purple'; and finally spiritual good, meant by 'twice-dyed scarlet'.

[2] Because this is the order in which the spiritual and celestial realities follow one another 'fine twined linen' is here mentioned first; but in the case of the veil that hung between the dwelling-place and the ark, or between the holy place and the holy of holies, dealt with in verse 31 of the present chapter, it is mentioned last. The reason why 'fine twined linen' is mentioned last in the case of the veil is that 'the veil' means the intermediary uniting the inmost heaven to the middle heaven, and therefore within this intermediary it must come last, in order that - to link the two heavens - it may then be first in the second of them.

[3] But properly 'fine twined linen' means the understanding part of the mind as it exists with the spiritual man or with an angel in the Lord's spiritual heaven. The reason why the understanding part is meant by 'fine twined linen' is that with the spiritual man a new will part is implanted by the Lord within the understanding part of his mind, see 863, 875, 895, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2256, 4328, 4493, 5113; and since the understanding part in the spiritual man is meant by 'fine twined linen', so too is spiritual truth meant. This is because all truth belongs to the understanding part, and all good to the will part, 3623, 9300; for the understanding part is the receiver (subjectum) or container and the truth is what belongs to it, and these two make one. From these considerations also it may be seen that the actual understanding part of the mind with those who belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom is in the strict sense 'the dwelling-place', 9296, 9297, and that the spreading out of the curtains serves to describe it.

[4] From all this what 'spreading and stretching out the heavens' means in the following places may be recognized, such as in Isaiah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, spreads out the earth, gives breath ¹ to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:5.

In the same prophet,

I am Jehovah who makes all things, stretches out the heavens Alone, [and] spreads out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

In the same prophet,

It was I that made the earth and created man on it. It was I - My hands - that stretched out the heavens. Isaiah 45:12.

In Jeremiah,

... He who makes the earth by His power, prepares the world by His wisdom, and stretches out the heavens by His intelligence. Jeremiah 51:15.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

[5] 'Stretching out the heavens and spreading out the earth' is plainly similar in meaning to stretching and spreading out a dwelling-place by the use of curtains. And by this is meant regenerating a person and thereby creating or forming a new understanding in which there is a new will, which is the spiritual person's actual heaven in which the Lord dwells with that person. The fact that the regeneration or the formation of a new understanding, and of a new will within it, and so of a new person, is what 'stretching out the heavens and spreading out the earth' means is evident from actual explanations provided in the places quoted above. For they speak of Him who gives breath to the people on the earth, and spirit to those who walk on it, and also of Him who forms the spirit of man within him. 'Heaven and earth' means the Church, internal and external, see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, and 'the earth' in general means the Lord's kingdom and the Church, 9334; and these meanings too are plainly apparent in those places. For if 'the earth' did not have that meaning what sense could be made of 'spreading out the earth' and 'founding the earth', or 'forming the spirit of man within him ² '?

[6] The fact that 'stretching out the heavens and spreading out the earth' here is similar in meaning to stretching and spreading out a dwelling-place by the use of curtains is clear from other places where the same idea is stated even more plainly, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40:22.

In the same prophet,

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwelling-places. Isaiah 54:2.

And in David,

Jehovah covers Himself with light, as if with a garment; He stretches out the heavens as a curtain. Psalms 104:2.

These places also show what 'the expanse' or that which is spread out means in the first chapter of Genesis,

God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let there be a distinguishing of the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse and He made a distinction between the waters that were under the expanse and the waters that were above the expanse, And God called the expanse Heaven. Genesis 1:6-8.

That first chapter describes the regeneration of a member of the celestial Church, 'the expanse' describing his new will and understanding. 'The waters under the expanse and those above the expanse' are the truths of the external man and those of the internal man. For the meaning of 'waters' as truths, see 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 8568, 9323.

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1043. 'The cloud' means the obscure light in which the spiritual man dwells in comparison with the celestial man. This becomes clear from what has just been stated concerning the bow; for the bow, or the colour of the bow, is never manifested except within the cloud. As has been stated, it is the obscurity itself through which the sun's rays shine that is converted into different colours, and so the actual colour that is produced is determined by the nature of the obscurity which the brightness of those rays encounters. Similarly with the spiritual man. The obscurity with him, which is called 'the cloud' here, is falsity, and is the same as the intellectual side of his proprium. When innocence, charity, and mercy from the Lord are instilled into this part of his proprium, the cloud is no longer seen as falsity but as an appearance of truth together with [real] truth from the Lord. Consequently there is the likeness of a coloured bow. The conversion of something spiritual that defies description is involved here, but how else the matter can be explained intelligibly except through the way a person perceives colours and how they are produced I do not know.

[2] The nature of this cloud with someone who is regenerate is clear from what his state was prior to regeneration. A person is regenerated by means of the things he supposes to be the truths of faith. Everyone supposes that his own accepted belief is the truth, and on this basis acquires a conscience. Consequently once he has acquired a conscience, acting contrary to the things that have been impressed on him as being the truths of faith is to him acting contrary to conscience. This applies to everyone who is regenerate. For many from whatever accepted belief are regenerated by the Lord; and once regenerated, they do not receive any direct revelation, but only those things which are implanted through the Word and preaching of it. But because they receive charity, the Lord operates by way of charity into the cloud that is theirs. From this, light is provided, as when the sun pierces a cloud which thereby becomes more illumined and made varicoloured. So also within the cloud [of falsity] the likeness of a bow is manifested. The thinner the cloud therefore, that is, the more it consists of many truths of faith blending together, the more beautiful is the bow; but the thicker this cloud, that is, the less it consists of truths of faith, the less beautiful the bow. Innocence adds considerably to its beauty, bringing so to speak a living brightness to the colours.

[3] All appearances of truth are 'clouds' which envelop a person when he is confined to the sense of the letter of the Word, for the Word speaks according to appearances. Yet, even though he remains in appearances, since he believes the Word in simplicity and has charity, that cloud is relatively thin - it being within this cloud that the Lord forms conscience in the case of one who is inside the Church. In addition, all forms of ignorance of truth are 'clouds', such as envelop a person who does not know what the truth of faith is, in general when he does not know what the Word is, and still more when he has not heard about the Lord. It is within this cloud that the Lord forms conscience in the case of one who is outside the Church; for in ignorance itself there can be innocence, and so charity. All falsities too are 'clouds', but these clouds are the darkness that exists either with people who have a false conscience, as described already, or with people who have none at all. These are in general the various types of clouds. As regards the number of them, the clouds with an individual are so numerous and so thick that if he knew he would be amazed that rays of light from the Lord could ever pierce them at all and that anyone could be regenerated. The person who imagines he has a very small amount of cloud sometimes has a vast quantity of it, while the one who believes he has a vast quantity of cloud has less.

[4] Such clouds reside with the spiritual man, but with the celestial man not so many do so since with him love to the Lord is present, which has been implanted in the will part of his mind. He does not therefore receive conscience from the Lord as the spiritual man does, but perception of good and from this of truth. When the will part of someone's mind is such that he is able to receive rays from a celestial flame, the understanding part is lit up by it, and he knows and perceives from love all things that are truths of faith. The will part is then like a little sun from which rays pass into the understanding part. Such was the nature of the member of the Most Ancient Church. But when the will part of his mind has become utterly corrupted and hellish, and a new will, which is conscience, is therefore formed in the understanding part, as happened to the member of the Ancient Church and happens now to every regenerate member of the spiritual Church, there is thick cloud; for, having no ability to perceive what good and truth are, he must gain a knowledge of this through learning about them. At the same time falsity, which is the obscurity of the cloud, is constantly flowing in from the black will part of his mind, that is, from hell by way of that will part. For this reason the understanding part with the spiritual man can never be enlightened in the way that it is with the celestial man. This is why 'cloud' here means the obscure light in which the spiritual man dwells in comparison with the celestial man.

9323. 'And He will bless your bread and your water' means the increase of the good of love and of the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed by Jehovah' as being made fruitful in forms of good and being multiplied in truths, dealt with in 2846, 3406, 4981, 6091, 6099, 8939, thus an increase in the kinds of things that belong to love and faith; from the meaning of 'bread' as the good of love, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 6118, 8410; and from the meaning of 'water' as the truth of faith, dealt with in 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 6346, 7307, 8568. Since 'bread' meant all the good of love and 'water' all the truth of faith in their entirety, and since 'being blessed by Jehovah' means every increase in them, people in the ancient Churches were accustomed to express the wish, May Jehovah bless [your] bread and water. It was also common to speak of 'bread and water' when all natural food and drink were to be expressed and all spiritual goodness and truth to be understood; for the latter are what nourish spiritual life, just as the former nourish natural life, 4976.

[2] Such goodness and truth are meant by 'bread and water' in the following places: In Isaiah,

Behold, Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem and Judah the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water. Isaiah 3:1.

'The staff of bread' stands for power and life provided by good, 'the staff of water' for power and life provided by truth. In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, so that they may eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and with dismay; that they may be in want of bread and water, and will be dismayed with one another, ¹ and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:16-17.

'Being in want of bread and water' means being deprived of the good of love and of the truth of faith, as is plainly evident since it says 'that they will be dismayed with one with another, and waste away on account of iniquity'.

[3] The like occurs again in the same prophet,

They will eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dismay, so that her land may be devastated of its fullness, on account of the violence of all who dwell in it. Ezekiel 12:19.

In Amos,

Behold, the days are going to come, in which I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11.

In the first Book of Kings,

The man of God said to Jeroboam, If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For Jehovah had so commanded, saying, You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way you came. But a prophet from Bethel said to him that he had been told by Jehovah that he was to eat bread and drink water with him (he was lying). ² And he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. For that reason he was torn to pieces by a lion. 1 Kings 13:8-9, 16-19, 24.

His refusal to eat bread or drink water with Jeroboam was a sign of his abhorrence of the good there and also of the truth, because they had been rendered profane. For Jeroboam had profaned the altar and all the holy things of worship, as is evident from the historical descriptions at this point in the Word.

[4] A lack of spiritual goodness and truth was meant by the absence of rain for three and a half years when Ahab was king, resulting in a lack of bread and of water, during which time Elijah went to a widow in Zarephath and asked her for a little water in a vessel so that he might drink, and a piece of bread so that he might eat, 1 Kings 17, 18. For 'bread' meant all the good of the Church, and 'water' all the truth of the Church, as stated above. Since such things in those times were representative for the reason that only something representative of the Church existed among those people, and since things of a representative nature were used therefore in the composition of the Word, including the historical section, goodness and truth laid waste was accordingly represented by the lack of bread and water. And because 'bread' meant all the good of love in its entirety, therefore also the sacrifices were referred to as 'bread', 2165, and therefore also the Lord calls Himself 'the bread which comes down from heaven', John 6:48, 50-51; for the Lord is the Good itself of Love.

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