9910. Verses 31-35 And you shall make the robe of the ephod, the whole from violet. And its hole for the head ¹ shall be in the middle of it; its hole ² shall have a border round about, the work of a weaver; something like the hole ² of a corslet it must have, so that it does not tear. And you shall make on its hem pomegranates of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet on its hem round about, and bells of gold in the middle of them round about - a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and his voice ³ will be heard when he goes into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he comes out, that he may not die.

'And you shall make the robe' means Divine Truth in its inward form in the spiritual kingdom. 'The whole from violet' means through an inflow from the good of the celestial kingdom. 'And its hole for the head shall be in the middle of it' means the course which the inflow from the higher source takes. 'And its hole shall have a border round about' means that it is bounded and enclosed on every side. 'The work of a weaver' means from the celestial. 'And the hole of a corslet it must have, so that it does not tear' means so that it has been made strong and safe from damage. 'And you shall make on its hem' means in the most external parts, where the natural is. 'Pomegranates' means factual knowledge of good. 'Of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet' means springing from the good of charity and faith. 'On its hem round about' means in the most external parts, where the natural is, in every direction. 'And bells of gold' means all aspects of religious teachings and of worship springing from good which come across to those who belong to the Church. 'In the middle of them round about' means consisting of the more internal features of the factual knowledge of good in every direction. 'A bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about' means that this shall be so everywhere, at every point. 'And it shall be on Aaron' means that which is representative of the Lord. 'When he ministers' means while engaged in worship and preaching the gospel. 'And his voice will be heard' means the inflow of truth among those in heaven and those on earth. 'When he goes into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he comes out' means in every state of good and truth in worship. 'That he may not die' means so that what is representative, and the joining to heaven through it, may not be lost.

脚注:

9823. 'A breastplate' means Divine Truth shining forth from Divine Good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a breastplate' as Divine Truth shining forth from Divine Good, in this instance within the last and lowest things in progression from inmost ones in the heavens. For the ephod which that breastplate rested on represented the lowest things of the spiritual kingdom, and therefore the lowest things of heaven. The reason why 'the breastplate' has this meaning is that it was tied on over the breast, where the heart lies, and was filled with precious stones, and the heart corresponds to celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord received from the Lord, while the twelve precious stones correspond to Divine Truths springing from that good. This is the reason why in the highest sense 'the breastplate' means Divine Truth shining forth from the Lord's Divine Good. For the correspondence of the heart to celestial good, or the good of love to the Lord received from the Lord, see 170, 172, 176, 3635, 3883-3896, 7542, 9050, 9300, 9494; and for the correspondence of the twelve precious stones to Divine Truths which spring from Divine Good, see further on in the present chapter where the full description of this breastplate occurs. There it is called 'the breastplate of judgement', also the Urim and Thummim, because of the twelve precious stones with which it was filled. The fact that it was tied on over the breast, where the heart lies, is evident from the description of it below, where that fact is stated explicitly in these words,

Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgement over his heart. Verse 29.

And after this,

They shall be over Aaron's heart, when he goes in before Jehovah. And Aaron shall carry the judgement of the children of Israel over his heart before Jehovah continually. Verse 30.

'Judgement' too means Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, as will be seen in what follows.