9606. 'On the edge of the one curtain at the end in the joining-place' means of one sphere to the other, that is to say, the joining together of the two. This is clear from the meaning of 'the edge of the curtain at the end in the joining-place' as the place where one ends and the other begins, thus the boundary where the two come together. The reason why a sphere is what is meant is that in heaven spheres come together; for there are spheres that go out from each angelic community in heaven, and from each angel in a community. These spheres from each one emanate from the life of their affections for truth and good; and they spread a long way out. This explains why the character of spirits and angels is recognizable when they are a long way off. Those spheres are what bind angels and angelic communities together and they are also what split them apart; for similar spheres, that is, similar affections for truth and good, come together, and dissimilar ones move apart. But see what has been shown already about those spheres in 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1520, 1695, 2401, 2489, 4464, 5179, 6206 (end), 6598-6613, 7454, 8630, 8794, 8797, 9490-9492, 9498, 9534. Whether you say the angels and angelic communities, or the truth and good, from which the spheres emanate it amounts to the same thing, for the spheres are emanations from affections for truth and good, by virtue of which the angels are angels from the Lord. It should be recognized that to the extent that these spheres originate in the Lord they come together, but to the extent that they originate in the self of an angel they move apart. From this it is evident that the Lord alone brings them together.

1048. 'And the bow is seen in the cloud' means when man is still such as to be able to be regenerated. This is clear from the meaning of 'the bow in the cloud' which is a sign or token of regeneration, as stated already. Concerning the bow in the cloud there is more to be said: The character of a person, that is, of a soul, after the body has died is known in an instant. The Lord has known that character from eternity, and knows what it is going to be into eternity. A person's character is perceived by angels the moment he comes near; a certain sphere so to speak emanates from his whole disposition, that is, from every part of him. And this sphere, astonishing though it may seem, is such that from it one perceives what faith and what charity exist with him from whom it emanates. When it pleases the Lord it is that sphere which is made visible as a bow. This sphere will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described later on. From this it becomes clear what is meant here by 'the bow when it is seen in the cloud', namely when a person is such that he can be regenerated.