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.

Notas de rodapé:

655. The window that was to be finished to a cubit above' means the understanding part of the mind. This may become clear to anyone from what has been stated so far, and also from the fact that when the subject is the construction of the ark and 'the ark' means the member of the Church, the understanding part cannot be compared to anything other than 'a window above'. Similar examples occur in the Word in which man's understanding part, that is, his internal sight - whether reason is present or mere reasoning - is called a 'window', as in Isaiah,

O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, I will make your suns (windows) of ruby, and your gates into carbuncle stones, and all your border into pleasant stones. Isaiah 54:11-12.

Here the word 'suns' is used instead of the word 'windows' because of the light sent in or through. 'Suns' or 'windows' here are intellectual concepts springing indeed from charity, which is why they are likened to a ruby. 'Gates' are rational concepts deriving from these, and 'border' is factual knowledge and sensory evidence. Here the subject is the Lord's Church.

[2] All the windows of the Temple in Jerusalem had the same representation; the highest represented intellectual concepts, the middle rational concepts, while the lowest represented facts and sensory evidence, for there were three storeys, 1 Kings 6:4, 6, 8. Similarly the windows of the New Jerusalem, in Ezekiel 40:16, 22, 25, 33, 36.

In Jeremiah,

Death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, cutting off the young child from the street and young men from the lanes. Jeremiah 9:21.

Here middle-storey windows are meant, which is to say that rational concepts are being destroyed. 'The young child in the street' is new-born truth. Since 'windows' means intellectual concepts and rational concepts, which are matters of truth, the same also means reasonings, which are matters of falsity, as in the same prophet,

Woe to him who builds his house in unrighteousness, and his upper rooms not in judgement, who says, I will build myself a wide house and spacious upper rooms, and he cuts out windows for himself, panelling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. Jeremiah 22:13-14.

The 'windows' stands for false assumptions. In Zephaniah,

Herds of beasts will lie down in the midst of her, every wild beast of that nation. Both the spoonbill and the qippod ¹ will lodge in her pomegranates. ² A voice will sing in the window, vastation will be on the threshold. Zephaniah 2:14.

This refers to Asshur and Nineveh. 'Asshur' stands for the understanding, here when it has been laid waste, while 'a voice singing in the windows' stands for reasonings based on false notions.

Notas de rodapé: