9886. 'And the two ends of the two slender ropes you shall put into the two sockets' means the mode by which it is joined to the supports in the most external parts. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ends' as the last or most external parts, dealt with above in 9882; from the meaning of 'slender ropes' as an indissoluble joining together, also dealt with above, in 9880, the mode of the joining together being meant by 'putting them into the sockets'; and from the meaning of 'the sockets', which were above the shoulders, as being brought into being and kept in being, dealt with in 9847, 9851. The reason why support is also meant by 'the sockets' is that they were above the shoulders, and supports are meant by 'the shoulders' since objects are supported by and carried on them.

9880. 'With the work of slender rope' means an indissoluble joining together. This is clear from the meaning of 'slender rope' as a joining together, dealt with above in 9854. The reason why an indissoluble joining together is meant is that a slender rope made from twisted and intertwined work, as is evident from the original language in which a cord such as this is called slender rope. What is made from twisted and intertwined work means in the spiritual sense something indissoluble.