9896. 'And they shall tie the breastplate from its rings to the rings of the ephod' means the joining to and preservation of everything in heaven by means of the sphere of Divine Good in the outermost parts of the spiritual kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'tying' as joining to and preserving, dealt with in the places above where the tying of the breastplate to the ephod has been the subject; from the meaning of 'the breastplate' as a representative sign of all things of heaven, dealt with in 9879, 9887; from the meaning of 'the rings' as a sphere of Divine Good by which the joining together is accomplished, dealt with in 9498, 9501, 9882; and from the meaning of 'the ephod' as Divine Truth in the spiritual kingdom in an outward form, in which inner things terminate, dealt with in 9824, thus the whole outermost part of that kingdom.

9879. 'And you shall make on the breastplate small chains on the border' means all heaven joined together in the most external parts. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breastplate' as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with in 9823, thus also heaven, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'small chains' as coherence, dealt with above in 9852, thus also a joining together; and from the meaning of 'the border' as the most external part, as also above in 9853. The reason why 'the breastplate' means heaven as well is that all the kinds of good and truth in their entirety were represented there by the twelve stones and by the names of the twelve tribes; and those kinds of good and truth in their entirety constitute heaven, so completely that whether you say heaven or those kinds of good and truth it amounts to the same thing. For the angels who constitute heaven are recipients of good and truth from the Lord, and being recipients of these they are also forms of them, or forms of love and charity. Truths of faith make for beauty, but a beauty in keeping with truths that spring from good, that is, in keeping with truths through which good shines forth. Outward forms of love and charity, which is what the forms of angels in the heavens are, are human forms; they are such because the kinds of good and the truths which emanate from the Lord, and the angels are recipients of, are effigies and images of the Lord.