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.

9594. 'And you shall make the dwelling-place' means the second or middle heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the dwelling-place', when it refers to the Divine, as heaven - the middle or second heaven, strictly speaking. It is well known that there are three heavens, namely the inmost, middle, and lowest, or third, second, and first. All these heavens were represented by the tabernacle; the inmost or third heaven was represented by the ark where the Testimony was, the middle or second heaven by the dwelling-place where the table for the loaves of the Presence and the lampstand were, and the lowest or first heaven by the court. The reason why there are three heavens is that there are three degrees of life with the human being. (Human beings, who become angels after death, constitute heaven; angels have no other beginning, and the heavens spring from no other source.) The inmost degree of his life exists for the inmost heaven, the middle degree of life for the middle heaven, and the lowest for the lowest heaven. And because the human being is like this, or has been so formed, and heaven springs from the human race, there are three heavens.

[2] These degrees of life with a person are opened up in successive stages. The first degree is opened up by a life led in accord with what is right and fair, the second degree by a life in accord with the truths of faith drawn from the Word and with forms of the good of charity towards the neighbour that follow on from those truths, and the third degree by a life in accord with the good of mutual love and the good of love to the Lord. These virtues are the means by which those three degrees of life with a person, and so the three heavens with him, are opened up in successive stages. But it should be recognized that to the extent that a person departs from good in life and moves towards evil in life those degrees are closed, that is, the heavens with him are closed; for just as good in life opens them, so evil in life closes them. This being so, all who are steeped in evil are outside heaven, thus are in hell. It should also be recognized that with some people - since the heavens with a person are opened up in successive stages according to the good present in his life, as stated above - the first heaven and not the second is opened up; that with some others the second heaven and not the third is opened up; but that the third heaven is opened up solely with those governed by good in life springing from love to the Lord. For the human being is heaven in its smallest form, and has been created so as to conform to an image of heaven and of the world, see the places referred to in 9279.

[3] There is therefore an inmost heaven, represented by the ark of the Testimony, which was the subject in the previous chapter; a middle heaven, represented by the dwelling-place, which is the subject in the present chapter; and a lowest heaven, represented by the court, which is the subject in the next chapter. Heaven is called God's dwelling-place because what is Divine and the Lord's dwells there; for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good is what makes heaven, indeed gives life to the angels there. And since the Lord dwells with angels in that which comes from Him, 9338 (end), heaven is called God's dwelling-place, and the actual Divine Truths emanating from Divine Good, which angels or angelic communities are recipients of, are called dwellings, as in David,

Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me, let them lead me to [Your] holy mountain and to Your dwellings, that I may go in to the altar of God, to God ... Psalms 43:3-4.

In the same author,

There is a river whose streams will make glad the city of God, the holy place of the dwellings of the Most High. Psalms 46:4.

In the same author,

Down to the ground ¹ they have profaned the dwelling-place of Your name. Psalms 74:7.

In the same author,

How lovely are Your dwellings, O Jehovah! Psalms 84:1.

[4] The fact that the Divine realities which emanate from the Lord's Divine Human are what are rightly called 'dwellings', as a result of which heaven itself is called 'the dwelling-place', is also clear in David,

He swore to Jehovah, he made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob, Surely I will not give sleep to my eyes, until I find a place for Jehovah, the dwelling-places for the Mighty One of Jacob. Behold, we heard of Him in Ephrathah, we found Him in the fields of the wood. We will enter His dwelling-places. Psalms 132:2, 4-7.

'The Mighty One of Jacob' is the Lord's Divine Human, 6425. 'Ephrathah', where He was to be found, is Bethlehem where He was born, Genesis 35:19; 48:7; Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:5-6. 'The fields of the wood' are the forms of good composing the Church among gentiles.

[5] In Ezekiel,

They will dwell in the land which I gave to My servant Jacob. They will dwell in it, they [and their sons] and their sons' sons forever. And David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make with them a covenant of peace; it will be an eternal covenant with them. And I will set My sanctuary in their midst forever; so shall My dwelling-place be among them. Ezekiel 37:25-27.

'David, who will be their prince forever' stands for the Lord, 1888; 'the sanctuary' (sanctuarium) stands for the Lord's Divine Human, since He is the source of all holiness (sanctum), 3210, 9229, so that 'dwelling-place' stands for heaven and for the Church, where the Lord is.

[6] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I will bring back the captivity ² of the tents of Jacob, and will have compassion on his dwellings, that the city may be built upon its mound. Jeremiah 30:18.

'Bringing back the captivity of the tents of Jacob' stands for restoring the external Church's forms of good and truths which had been destroyed, 'having compassion on his dwellings' for restoring the internal Church's truths, 'the city which was to be built upon its mound' for doctrinal teachings about the truth, 2449, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493.

[7] How the Lord dwells in the heavens may be seen from what has been shown previously regarding the Lord, that is to say, where it has been shown that the Lord's Divine Human is the Sun, the source of heat and light in the heavens. The heat radiating from the Lord as the Sun is love, while the light is faith. The Lord therefore dwells with those who receive from Him the good of love and the truth of faith, which are the heat and light of life; and how fully He is present depends on their degree of receptivity.

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