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.

Footnotes:

4319. Much experience has shown me that no man or spirit, or any angel, thinks, says, or does anything at all from himself, but from others. Nor are these others themselves the source of anything they think, say, or do but others again, and so on with these. Thus all, corporately and individually, think, speak, and act from the First Source of life, that is, from the Lord, no matter how completely they seem to do so independently, by themselves. This has often been shown to spirits who had believed during their lifetime, and had convinced themselves of the idea, that nothing lay outside themselves, that is, the whole source of their thought, speech, and activity lay within themselves and their own souls in which life has been implanted and shows itself. They have also been shown through actual experiences (such as one can have in the next life but are not possible in the world) that the source of evil people's thought, will, and action is hell, and the source of good people's is heaven, that is, the Lord through heaven; yet for all that, their evil or else their good seems to begin within those people themselves. This is something Christians know from teaching drawn from the Word, that is to say, the teaching that all evil comes from the devil and all good from the Lord. Yet there are few who believe it. And because they do not believe it they make their own the evils which they think, will, and do. They do not however make any good their own, for people who believe that the source of the good they do lies within themselves lay claim to it and attribute it to themselves, and in so doing place merit in it. They also know from what is taught in the Church that no one is able independently, by himself, to do anything good, insomuch that whatever originates in himself and in his proprium is evil, no matter how much it may seem to be good. This also few people believe, even though it is the truth.

[2] Evil people who have convinced themselves of the idea that they live independently by themselves, and therefore that whatever they think, will, and do begins in themselves, have declared, when shown that the truth of the matter is exactly as doctrine teaches, their readiness to believe it. But they have been told that knowing does not amount to believing, and that believing is something internal and cannot exist except within the affection for good and truth, and therefore can exist only with those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour. Those same spirits, being evil ones, insisted that they were ready to believe it because they had seen it. But they were subjected to examination in a way commonly experienced in the next life, namely that of close inspection by angels. When they were inspected the upper part of their heads seemed to have been removed and their brains to be rough and hairy and also full of darkness. This showed the inner nature of people whose faith is no more than knowledge and not true faith, and that knowing something does not amount to believing it. For the heads of those who know and also believe look like human heads, and their brains look well-ordered, white, and shining, since heavenly light is received by them. But with those who merely know and imagine that in knowing they therefore believe, when in fact they do not believe because they lead an evil life, heavenly light is not received, nor consequently intelligence and wisdom which are present within that light. For this reason when they approach angelic communities, that is, heavenly light, it turns for them into darkness. This is why their brains are seen to be full of darkness.