9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

9396. 'And he took the book of the covenant' means the Word in the letter to which the Word in heaven was joined. This is clear from the meaning of 'the book' as the Word in its entirety, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the covenant' as a joining together, dealt with in 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778. 'The book of the covenant' is used here to mean everything the Lord spoke from Mount Sinai, for verse 4 just above says, And Moses wrote all Jehovah's words. In a restricted sense therefore 'the book of the covenant' is used to mean the Word revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and in a broad sense to mean the Word in its entirety since this is the Divine Truth revealed by the Lord. And since it is through this Truth that the Lord joins Himself to a member of the Church, that Truth too is meant by 'the book of the covenant'; for 'a covenant' is a joining together.

[2] But the nature of the Lord's being joined to a member of the Church through the Word is unknown at the present day because heaven at the present day is closed. Scarcely anyone today talks to angels or spirits and therefore knows the way in which they understand the Word. But this was well known to the ancients, and especially to the most ancients; for talking to spirits and angels was common among them. The reason for this was that people in ancient and especially in most ancient times were more internal, for they thought in the spirit virtually separated from the body, whereas people today are more external and think in the body virtually separated from the spirit. So it is that heaven has seemingly forsaken mankind, for heaven's contact is with the internal man when this can be unshackled from the body, but not directly with the external man. This explains why the nature of the Lord's being joined to a person through the Word is unknown at the present day.

[3] Those whose thought is based on what the body perceives with the senses and not on what the spirit perceives with the senses cannot possibly do other than think that the meaning the Word has in heaven is like the meaning it has in the world, that is, in the letter. If it were said that the meaning the Word has in heaven is like the thought of the internal man, which is free from material ideas, that is, from worldly, bodily, and earthly ideas, this would be considered an absurdity at the present day, especially if it were said that the meaning the Word has in heaven is as different from the meaning it has in the world or in the letter as a heavenly paradise is from an earthly paradise, or as heavenly food and drink are from earthly food and drink. How great that difference is may be seen from the consideration that the heavenly paradise consists in intelligence and wisdom, heavenly food in every good of love and charity, and heavenly drink in every truth of faith rooted in that good. Is there anyone at the present day who would not be astounded to hear that when a paradise, garden, or vineyard is mentioned in the Word those in heaven do not perceive a paradise, garden, or vineyard but instead such things as are attributes of intelligence and wisdom coming from the Lord? Or that when food and drink are mentioned, for instance bread, flesh, wine, or water, those in heaven perceive instead such things as are aspects of the good of love and the truth of faith received from the Lord? Or that this perception of the Word comes about not as a result of interpretations of its statements nor by seeing them as comparisons, but that it is due to correspondences and is their actual and real perception of it? For the heavenly virtues of wisdom, intelligence, the good of love, and the truth of faith correspond in actual reality to those worldly objects. In the same way the internal man has been created to correspond to the external man, and so therefore has heaven, which resides in the internal man, to correspond to the world, which resides in the external man. The same is so with everything generally. The truth that the Word is understood and perceived in heaven according to correspondences, and that this level of meaning is the internal sense, has been shown everywhere in the explanations prior to this.

[4] Anyone who grasps what has just been stated is capable of knowing and in some manner perceiving that a person is joined by means of the Word to heaven and through heaven to the Lord, and that without the Word no such joining together would be possible. See what has been shown many times about these matters, in 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, and elsewhere. From all this it is now clear why Moses took the book of the covenant and read it in front of the people, and then sprinkled the blood over the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant. And the reason why all this was done was that in heaven 'the blood of a sacrifice' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, which on our planet is the Word, see 9393. Since 'the covenant' means a joining together, and since Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, that is, the Word, is the means by which the joining together is accomplished, everything that belongs to Divine Truth from the Lord or belongs to the Word is called 'the covenant', such as the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, also the judgements, statutes, and all else that is contained in the Books of Moses, and in general that is contained both in the Old Testament Word and in the New.

[5] The Tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written [were called the Covenant].

This may be seen in Moses,

Jehovah wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words. Exodus 34:28.

In the same author,

I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah made with you. Jehovah gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. I came down from the mountain, when the mountain was burning with fire; the two tablets of the covenant however were on my two hands. Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 15.

And in the same author,

Jehovah declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the ten words which He wrote on tablets of stone. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you. Deuteronomy 4:13, 23.

Because the two tablets had been laid up in the ark, which was in the middle or inmost part of the tabernacle, the ark was called the ark of the covenant, Numbers 10:33; 14:44; Deuteronomy 10:8, 31:9, 25-26; Joshua 3:3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 4:3-5; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 3:15; 6:19; 8:1, 6; Jeremiah 3:16.

[6] The Books of Moses were called the Book of the Covenant

This is clear from the ones found in the temple by Hilkiah the [high] priest, about which the following things are said in the second Book of Kings,

Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah.

And they read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of Jehovah. 2 Kings 22:8; 23:2.

[7] The Old Testament Word was called the Covenant

This may be seen in Isaiah,

To those holding fast to My covenant I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters. Isaiah 56:4-5.

In Jeremiah,

Hear the words of this covenant. Cursed is the man who will not hear the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers. Obey My voice, and do those things, according to all that I command you. Jeremiah 11:2-4.

In David,

All the ways of Jehovah are mercy and truth to those keeping His covenant and His testimonies. Psalms 25:10.

In the same author,

The mercy of Jehovah is from eternity to eternity on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those keeping His covenant, and to those remembering His commandments. Psalms 103:17-18.

And in the same author,

They did not keep God's covenant and refused to walk in His law. Psalms 78:10.

Here 'God's covenant' is called God's law. 'The law' is used in a broad sense to mean the whole Word, in a narrower sense to mean the historical section of the Word, in a restricted sense the Word that was written through Moses, and in a very restricted sense the Ten Commandments, see 6752.

[8] The New Testament Word too is the Covenant

This may be seen in Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming in which I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

'The house of Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'the house of Judah' for the celestial Church. And in David,

I will also make Him the Firstborn, supreme over the kings of the earth; and My covenant will stand fast with Him. I will not profane ¹ My covenant, and the utterance of My lips I will not alter. Psalms 89:27-28, 34.

This refers to the Lord. 'My covenant will stand fast with Him' stands for the union of the Divine Himself and the Divine Human, thus also for the Word since the Lord's Divine Human was the Word made flesh, that is, made man (homo), John 1:1-3, 14.

[9] The reason why Divine Truth or the Word is a covenant or joining together is that the Word is the Divine from the Lord, thus is the Lord Himself; and this being so, when the Word is received by a person the Lord Himself is received. From this it is evident that it is through the Word that the Lord is joined to a person; and since the Lord is joined to the person, so too is heaven joined to that person. For heaven is called heaven by virtue of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord and therefore from the Divine. This explains why those in heaven are said to be 'in the Lord'. Regarding the truth that the Divine joins Himself to those who love the Lord and keep His Word, see John 14:23.

[10] From all this it becomes clear that 'the blood of the covenant' means the Lord joined through heaven to a person by means of the Word, as also in Zechariah,

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off; on the other hand He will speak peace to the nations; His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, through the blood of your covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit in which there is no water. Zechariah 9:10-11.

[11] A person with no knowledge at all of the internal sense cannot see in these verses anything other than such things as are implied in their literal meaning, that is to say, that the chariot from Ephraim, horse from Jerusalem, and battle bow were going to be cut off, and in the final words that through 'the blood of the covenant' - meaning the Lord's blood - those buried in sins were going to be delivered, various ways being used to explain who exactly are meant by 'bound ones in the pit in which there is no water'. But a person who knows the internal sense of the Word sees that these verses refer to Divine Truth, and that after it has been laid waste, that is, is no longer received in belief and heart by anyone, it will be restored through God's truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, and that those who believe and do it will be joined by means of it to the Lord Himself. All this becomes clearer still from the inner meaning of individual words in these verses, for example from the meaning of 'chariot' as doctrine taught by the Church, 2760, 5321, 5945, 8215, and of 'Ephraim' as the Church's enlightened understanding, 5354, 6222, 6238; from the meaning of 'horse' as an understanding of the Word, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534, 8029, 8146, 8148, ² and of 'Jerusalem' as the spiritual Church, 2117, 3654, 9166; from the meaning of 'bow' as the doctrine of truth, 2686, 2709, and of 'battle' or 'war' as conflict involving truths, 1664, 2686, 8295.

[12] From these meanings it is evident that 'cutting off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow' means God's truth laid waste so far as any understanding of it in the Church is concerned, and that 'through the blood of the covenant those bound in the pit in which there is no water were going to be let out' means a restoration effected through Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human. The meaning of 'blood' as Divine Truth and of 'the covenant' as a joining together has been shown above; and for the meaning of 'those bound in the pit' as members of the spiritual Church who were saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, see 6854. The description 'pit where there is no water' is used because 'water' means truth, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323.

V:

2576. Behold it is unto thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee. That this signifies that rational truths are like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths, is evident from the signification of a “covering” (concerning which presently); and from the signification of the “eyes,” as being things intellectual (as is evident from very many passages in the Word); and also from the signification of “seeing,” as being to understand (n. 2150, 2325). Everyone can see that in everything in this verse there are arcana which cannot be revealed except by some interior sense; such as the statement that he gave a thousand of silver, and that this is said to have been given, not to her husband, but to her brother; that it was a covering of the eyes both to her and to all that were with her, and also with all; and that thereby she was vindicated. Many historical conjectures might possibly be drawn from the sense of the letter, but without having anything spiritual in them, still less anything Divine; and yet this is what the Word is.

[2] As regards rational truths being like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths, the case is this: Man’s inmost things are those of his soul, and his outer things are those of his body; the former are goods and truths, from which the soul has its life, for otherwise the soul would not be a soul: the latter draw their life therefrom, and are all like a body, or what is the same, a covering or clothing. This is especially evident from the things that appear in the other life; as from angels when presented to view; for their interiors shine forth from their faces; their exteriors being represented in both their bodies and their dress; and this so fully that everyone there can know their quality from their garments alone; for these are real substances, and thus essences in form. The same is the case with the angels seen and described in respect to their faces and dress in the Word, such as those seen in the Lord’s sepulcher (Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5); and the four and twenty elders around the throne (Revelation 4:4); and others. Nor is this the case with the angels only, but also with all other things that are mentioned in the Word, even those which are inanimate; in all cases their exteriors are a covering or clothing; as for example the ark of the covenant and the tent that was round about it; the ark, being the inmost, represented the Lord Himself, for therein was the Testimony; and the tent outside of it represented the Lord’s kingdom. The clothing, that is, the veils and coverings, each and all represented the more exterior celestial and spiritual things in His kingdom, that is, in the three heavens; as is evident from the fact that the form of the Tent was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9; 26:30). From this it had its holiness, and not from the gold, the silver, and the carvings, that were in it.

[3] Since rational truths are now treated of, as being a kind of veil or clothing to spiritual truths, and as the tent is described in Moses in respect to its clothing or coverings, and also in respect to its veils which were before the entrance, for the sake of illustration we may explain what was specifically signified by the veils; but what was signified by the encompassing coverings will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be told elsewhere. The veils of the tent were three: the first, which made the division between the holy and the holy of holies; the second, which is called the hanging for the door of the tent; and the third, which was the hanging for the gate of the court.

[4] Concerning the veil itself, which was the first, before the ark, we read in Moses:

Thou shalt make a veil of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a designer, thou shall make it with cherubim; and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, and their hooks of gold; upon four bases of silver; and thou shalt hang the veil under the clasps; and thou shalt bring in thither, within the veil, the Ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall divide unto you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:31-34; 36:35-36).

This veil represented the nearest and inmost appearances of rational good and truth, in which are the angels of the third heaven; which appearances are described by the hyacinthine, the bright crimson, the double-dyed scarlet, and the fine twined linen; in which the red color represented the goods of love, and the white its truths. The same is true also of the gold and silver with which the pillars were overlaid, and of which the hooks and the bases were made. (That colors are representative may be seen above, n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624; that “gold” is the good of love, n. 113, 1551, 1552; and that “silver” is truth, n. 1551, 2048)

[5] From this we can see what is signified by the veil of the temple being rent in twain (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), namely, that the Lord entered into the Divine Itself by dispersing all appearances; and that He at the same time opened the way to His Divine Itself through His Human made Divine.

[6] Concerning the second veil, or the hanging for the door of the tent, we read in Moses:

Thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent, of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; and thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast for them five bases of brass (Exodus 26:36-37; 36:37-38).

By this hanging were represented appearances of good and truth that are lower or more external than the former, that is, the middle ones of the rational, in which are the angels of the second heaven; which appearances are described almost in the same manner as the first, with the difference however that for this hanging there were five pillars and five bases, by which number is signified what is comparatively but little; for these appearances do not so cohere together, or are not so heavenly, as are the appearances of the inmost or third heaven. (Concerning the number five as meaning a little, see above, n. 649, 1686.) And because these appearances look to natural things, it was commanded that the bases should be cast of brass; for by brass was represented and signified natural good (n. 425, 1551).

[7] Concerning the third veil, or the hanging for the gate of the court, we read in Moses:

For the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits, of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their bases four; all the pillars of the court round about shall be filleted with silver, their hooks of silver, but their bases of brass (Exodus 27:16-17; 38:18-19).

By this hanging were represented still lower or more external appearances of good and truth, which are the lowest ones of the rational, in which are the angels of the first heaven. As these appearances correspond to interior things, they are described in a similar manner, yet with the difference that these pillars were not overlaid with gold, but filleted with silver, and that the hooks were of silver, by which are signified rational truths that derive their origin immediately from memory-knowledges; and the bases were of brass, by which are signified natural goods. All this shows that there was nothing in the Tent that was not representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom, or that all things were made according to the type of celestial and spiritual things in the three heavens; also that the veilings or coverings signified the things that are like a body or dress around or without the inmost.

[8] Moreover that “veilings,” “coverings,” “clothing,” or “garments” signify relatively lower truths, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Ezekiel:

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy spread of sail; hyacinthine and bright crimson from the isles of Elishah was thy covering (Ezekiel 27:7); where Tyre is treated of, by which are signified interior knowledges of celestial and spiritual things, and consequently those who are in them (n. 1201); “broidered work from Egypt” denotes what is of memory-knowledge (that “Egypt” denotes this may be seen above, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); “hyacinthine and bright crimson from the isles of Elishah, which was the covering,” denote the rituals that correspond to internal worship ( n. 1156).

[9] In the same:

All the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and put off their broidered garments; they shall be clothed with tremblings, they shall sit upon the earth (Ezekiel 26:16);

also speaking of Tyre “robes” and “broidered garments” denote knowledges derived from the contents of the memory [cognitionibus ex scientificis], and thus lower truths.

[10] In the same:

I clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger, and girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk; I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace upon thy throat. Thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places with divers colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them; thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them (Ezekiel 16:10-11, 16, 18);

speaking of Jerusalem, which is the spiritual church, described as it was of old, and such as it was afterwards, when perverted: its lower spiritual things and its doctrinal matters are the “garments of broidered work, fine linen, and silk.”

[11] In Isaiah:

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem the whole staff of bread and the staff of water. Then shall a man take hold of his brother, of the house of his father-Thou hast a garment, be thou our prince. In that day he shall lift up his voice, saying, I will not be a binder up, and in my house there is neither bread, nor garment; ye shall not make me a prince of the people. The Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion; and in that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their anklets, and their network, and crescents, and their collars, and chains, and plates; and the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the soul houses, and the ear-drops; the rings, and the nose jewels, the festival garments, and the mantles, and the robes, and the satchels, the mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the cloaks (Isaiah 3:1, 6-7, 17-24).

“Jerusalem” denotes the spiritual church; “Judah” the celestial church; the “staff of bread and the staff of water, which will be removed,” denote good and truth; the “garment which the prince should have,” the truths which are of doctrine; the clothing and various ornaments of the daughters of Zion, which are enumerated, all and each, the kinds and varieties of good and truth, of which they would be deprived. Unless everything here mentioned signified something peculiar to the church, they would not be of the Word, in every expression of which there is what is Divine; but they are predicated of the daughters of Zion, and by these are signified the things of the church, as may be seen above (n. 2362).

[12] In the same:

Awake! awake! put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isaiah 52:1-2);

“Zion” denotes the celestial church; “Jerusalem” the spiritual church; and “garments of beauty” the holy things of faith. In the same:

Their webs shall not become a garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity (Isaiah 59:6);

“webs” denote fictitious truths that do not become a garment; a “garment” denotes the exterior truths of doctrine and of worship; hence it is said, “neither shall they cover themselves with their works.”

[13] In the same:

Rejoicing I will rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall exult in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).

The “garments of salvation” denote the truths of faith; and the “robe of righteousness” the good of charity.

In John:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy; he that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment (Revelation 3:4-5).

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Revelation 16:15).

In the same:

Upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white garments (Revelation 4:4); where it is manifest that the “garments” are not garments, but the spiritual things of truth.

[14] So where the Lord said in reference to the consummation of the age that they should not return back to take their garments (Matthew 24:18; Mark 13:16), where that “garments” are truths may be seen above (n. 2454). Also in regard to the one not clothed in a wedding garment (Matthew 22:11-12). And concerning John:

What went ye out to see? a man clothed in bright ¹ garments? Behold they that wear bright ¹ garments are in kings’ houses (Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:25);

meaning that they were not in the externals of doctrine and worship, but in the internals; on which account He adds:

What went ye out to see? a prophet? yea, I say unto you and more than a prophet (Matthew 11:9);

a “prophet” denotes the externals of doctrine and of worship.

[15] As “garments” signified truths of every kind, it was commanded that the sons of Israel on going out of Egypt should borrow gold and silver, and garments, and put them upon their sons (Exodus 3:22; 12:35-36); also that garments of various kinds, or mixed garments, should not be worn (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:11); and that they should make for themselves fringes on the borders of their garments, and should put a blue thread there, and that when they saw it they should call to mind the commandments, and do them (Numbers 15:38-40).

[16] Formerly also they rent their garments (as is seen in Josh. 7:6; Judges 11:35; 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2, 11-12; 3:31; 13:30-31; 15:32; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 5:7-8; 6:30; 22:11, 14, 19; Isaiah 36:22; 37:1); by which was signified zeal for doctrine and truth, which was thus torn to pieces; and also humiliation, because there was nothing appertaining to them that is signified by the adornment of garments.

[17] That such things are signified by “veilings,” “coverings,” “clothing,” or “garments” is also manifest from the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel:

He shall bind his foal to the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he shall wash his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11);

what these words signify can be known to none except from the internal sense; namely a “vine,” a “choice vine,” a “foal,” an “ass’s colt,” “wine,” the “blood of grapes,” “garments,” and “clothes”; but it is evident that they are predicated of the Lord, who is here called “Shiloh.” The subject spoken of is Judah, by whom is represented the Lord’s Divine celestial; and by the “garments he should wash in wine,” and “the vesture he should wash in the blood of grapes” are signified the Lord’s rational and natural, which He should make Divine.

[18] In like manner in Isaiah:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah; this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the multitude of his strength? Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garment like him that treadeth in the wine vat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with me; their victory is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment (Isaiah 63:1-3); where also “garments” and “raiment” denote the Lord’s Human which of His own power He made Divine by combats of temptations and by victories; on which account it is said, “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with me.” Isaac’s smelling the smell of Esau’s garments, and so blessing him (Genesis 27:27), involved the same.

[19] The Holy itself of the Lord’s Divine Human was also a garment which appeared as the light, and as white and glistening, when He was transfigured, concerning which we read in Matthew:

When Jesus was transfigured, His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Matthew 17:2).

In Luke:

When Jesus prayed, the appearance of His countenance was changed, and His raiment became white and glistening (Luke 9:29).

And in Mark:

When Jesus was transfigured, His garments became shining, exceeding white like snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them (Mark 9:3).

The garments of holiness with which Aaron was clothed when he entered within the veil, and which were of linen, had a similar representation (Leviticus 16:2, 4): likewise the garments of holiness that were for glory and for beauty; and those of his ministry (Exodus 28:2 to the end}, and 39:1 to the end): for in these there was not one whit that was not representative.

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