9595. 'Ten curtains' means all the truths of which it consists. This is clear from the meaning of 'ten' as all, dealt with in 4638, so that 'a tenth part', which is one curtain, means a sufficient amount, 8468, 8540; and from the meaning of 'curtains' as the interior truths of faith which belong to the new understanding. For 'the dwelling-place' means the middle or second heaven, which is heaven by virtue of its reception of Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, as shown above in 9594; consequently the curtains of which it was assembled and which enveloped it are the truths of faith belonging to the new understanding. They are interior truths, because exterior truths are meant by the curtains made from [the hair of] goats for the tent going all the way round, which are also dealt with in the present chapter.

[2] The fact that 'curtains' are the truths of faith which those in the Lord's spiritual kingdom possess is clear from places in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Isaiah,

Sing, O barren one that did not bear; for the sons of her that is desolate will be more than the sons of her that is married. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwelling-places. Lengthen the ropes, because you will break out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations. Isaiah 54:1-3.

This refers to the Church to be established among the gentiles, which is called 'a barren one that did not bear' because it lacks truths from the Word, 9325. It says that 'her sons will be more than those of her that is married' because it will have more truths than the devastated former Church had; for 'sons' are truths, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 3373, 3704. 'Enlarging the place of the tent' stands for the holiness of worship springing from the good of love, 3312, 4391, 4599, 'stretching out the curtains of dwelling-places' for the holiness of worship springing from the truths of faith.

[3] In Jeremiah,

The whole land has been laid waste. Suddenly My tents have been laid waste, My curtains in a moment. Jeremiah 4:20.

'A land laid waste' stands for the Church, 9325, 'tents laid waste' for the holiness of worship springing from the good of love, 'curtains laid waste' for holy worship springing from the truths of faith.

[4] In the same prophet,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My ropes torn away. My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. There is no one stretching out My tent any more, and setting up My curtains. For the shepherds have become stupid. Jeremiah 10:20-21.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

Arise and go up against Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the east. They will take their tents and flocks, their curtains and all their vessels, and bear their camels away for themselves. Jeremiah 49:28-29.

'Arabia' and 'the sons of the east' stand for those with cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, 3249; 'taking tents and flocks' stands for taking the Church's forms of interior good, 8937, 'taking curtains' for taking the Church's interior truths, 'their vessels' the Church's exterior truths, 3068, 3079, 'camels' general facts, 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. In Habakkuk,

Below Aven I saw the tents of Cushan; the curtains of Midian shook. Habakkuk 3:7.

'The curtains of Midian' stands for the truths with those governed by simple good, 3242, 4756, 4788, 6773, 6775.

[5] All this shows what is meant by the following in David,

O Jehovah, You have put on glory and honour - He who covers Himself with light, as if with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a curtain. Psalms 104:1-2.

'Covering Himself with light, as if with a garment' stands for Divine Truths. Truth is meant by 'light', see 9548, and also by 'a garment', 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954, 9093, 9212, 9216; therefore 'stretching out the heavens like a curtain' means enlarging the heavens by means of an influx of God's truth, from which come intelligence and wisdom. 'Stretching and spreading out the heavens' has reference to the new or regenerated understanding part of the mind, see at the end of the very next paragraph, 9596.

9776. 'And as for all the vessels of the dwelling-place, in all [its] service' means the truths and the forms of good on the level of factual knowledge which the external man possesses. This is clear from the meaning of 'the vessels' as factual knowledge, dealt with in 3068, 3079, 9394, 9544; from the meaning of 'the dwelling-place' as heaven, dealt with in 9594, 9596, 9632; and from the meaning of 'service' as the external or natural level in a person, dealt with in 3019, 3020, 5305, 7998. The external or natural level in a person is a servant because it ought to serve the internal or spiritual level in a person. For the human being has been created to conform to an image of heaven and to an image of the world, the internal or spiritual man to an image of heaven and the external or natural man to an image of the world, 9279. Just as the world ought to serve heaven, so the external or natural level in a person ought to serve his internal or spiritual. The external has also been created to be a servant; for it has no life of its own and so cannot do anything by itself. It is dependent on the internal or spiritual, that is, through this on the Lord. From this it is also evident that the external or natural level in a person is not anything unless it is a servant to the internal or spiritual, and that so far as it does serve the internal it is something. To be a servant is to be obedient, and the external is obedient when it does not take ideas stored in the understanding and use them as reasons to justify the evils of self-love and love of the world, but complies with reason and the teachings of the Church which dictate that what is good and true should be done not for selfish and worldly reasons but for goodness and truth's own sake. When all this is so, the Lord - acting through the person's heaven, that is, through the person's internal man - is the doer of those things. For all goodness and truth spring from the Lord, so much so that what is good and true in anyone is the Lord Himself. From all this it becomes clear why it is that the external man must be a servant to the internal.