9855. 'And you shall put the small chains of slender rope in the sockets' means being joined to the good from which truths spring, and so the preservation of the spiritual kingdom by all exertion and power. This is clear from the meaning of 'small chains' made from the work 'of slender rope' as coherence with good and being joined to it, dealt with above in 9852, 9854; and from the meaning of 'the sockets of gold' as the good that brings truths into being and keeps them in being, also dealt with above, in 9847. The preservation of good and truth in the spiritual kingdom, or what amounts to the same thing, the preservation of the spiritual kingdom by all exertion and power, is meant by the two shoham stones placed on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, on which the names of the sons of Israel were engraved, 9836, 9848, 9849.

9847. 'Enclosed in sockets of gold you shall make them' means their being brought into being and kept in being by good. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490, so that 'being enclosed in sockets of gold' means being a continuation from good and deriving being from it. And since deriving being is meant, being kept in being is also meant; for that which brings something into being also keeps it in being, since being kept in being is unceasing coming into being. The relationship between the good and truth is like that between gold and a precious stone enclosed by it. For the good resembles the ground, and the truths resemble seeds there, since the truths are born nowhere else than in the good, and also how well they flourish is determined by the character of the good.