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.

Fusnotat:

5649. 'And they said, Over the matter of the silver put back in our pouches [at the beginning] are we brought to [this place]' means that because truth in the exterior natural appears to be something freely given, they were being made subservient. This is clear from the meaning of 'the silver put back' as truth freely given, dealt with in 5530, 5624; from the meaning of 'the pouch' as the opening to the exterior natural, dealt with in 5497; and from the meaning of 'brought to' as being linked and made subservient to, dealt with immediately above in 5648.

[2] The implications of all this are as follows: Because it had been perceived that the facts present in the exterior man which held truths within them had been freely given and were therefore being led on to become joined to the internal, which would make them subservient to it, it was consequently perceived that, as stated just above, they would be deprived of their freedom and so of all the delight that life holds within itself. But man has no conception of such a thing, that is to say, of its being perceived that facts holding truths within them can be given freely and that this happens in the natural, in either the exterior part or the interior part of it. The reason he has no conception of this is that he does not enjoy any kind of perception like that, for he does not have the vaguest idea about what is given to him freely, let alone about what is stored away in the exterior natural and what in the interior natural. The common reason why he does not have any perception of this is that his heart is set on worldly and earthly things, not on celestial and spiritual ones, and therefore he has no belief in any influence coming from the Lord by way of heaven and so no belief whatever in the gift of any such things to him. Yet in actual fact all the truth which he arrives at by the use of reason based on factual knowledge and which he imagines he arrives at by his own power of understanding is something that is given to him. And man has even less ability to perceive whether that truth is stored away in the exterior natural or in the interior natural, because he is ignorant of the fact that the natural has two parts, namely an exterior part which leans towards the external senses and an interior part which leans away from these and turns towards the rational.

[3] Since man has no knowledge of any of these matters he cannot have any perception at all regarding such ideas; for acquaintance with a reality must come first if there is to be any perception about it. But angelic communities are properly acquainted with and have a right perception of those matters. They are acquainted with and perceive not only what is given them freely but also in what place this exists, as the following experience makes clear: When any spirit who is moved by good, and therefore has the ability to do so, enters some angelic community, he enters at the same time into all the knowledge and intelligence belonging to this community, which he had not possessed before. At such a time he is not aware of anything different from this - that he was already in possession of such knowledge and understanding, and through his own deliberation. But when he stops to reflect he realizes that it is something freely given him by the Lord through that angelic community. He also knows, from the angelic community where he is, whether that truth exists in the exterior natural or in the interior natural; for there are angelic communities situated in the exterior natural, and there are those situated in the interior natural. But their natural is not like man's natural; rather it is a natural that is spiritual - one that has been made spiritual by having become joined and made subservient to the spiritual.

[4] From all this one may see that the matters mentioned here in the internal sense describe what actually happens in the next life. That is to say, those there are quite aware of what is freely given them and also of where it is stored away, even though man at the present day knows nothing at all about such matters. In ancient times however those who belonged to the Church did know about them; their factual knowledge told them about such matters, and so did their religious teachings. They were people of a more internal frame of mind; but since those times people have become progressively more externally minded, so much so that at the present day they live in the body, thus in what is the most external. A sign of this is seen in the fact that people do not even know what the spiritual is or what the internal is; and they do not believe even in the existence of such realities. Indeed people have moved so far away from things on a more internal level to what is most external within the body that they do not even believe in the reality of a life after death, or in the existence of heaven or hell. Indeed because of their departure from things of a more internal level into what is most external they have become so stupid. So far as spiritual realities are concerned, as to believe that man's life is similar to that of beasts, so that in death man is no different from them. And what is so surprising, the learned believe these kinds of things more than the simple; and anyone whose belief is different from theirs is thought by them to be a simpleton.