9863. 'And you shall adorn it with settings of stones' means the actual truths in their proper order, all springing from the one same good. This is clear from the meaning of the breastplate, to which 'it' refers here, as Divine Truth shining forth from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with in 9823; from the meaning of 'settings of stones' as truths in their proper order. For the breastplate was adorned with stones in accord with the names of the sons of Israel, and in a general sense truths on the lowest level of order are meant by 'stones', 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, and truths shining forth from good by 'precious stones' such as those in the breastplate, 9476. The expression 'springing from the one same good' is used because there is just one good that all the truths spring from. This good is the good of love within the Lord, thus is the Lord Himself, and is consequently the good of love from the Lord, which is the good of love to the Lord. For the good which flows in from the Lord and resides with man, spirit, or angel, has all the appearance of being theirs; and so it is that love to the Lord is love received from the Lord. This good is the one and only good from which all the truths spring, and from which the order among them begins; for the truths are outward forms of the good.

[2] The fact that the precious stones in the breastplate meant Divine Truths springing from Divine Good is clear from places in the Word where precious stones are mentioned, such as in John's Revelation,

The foundations of the wall of the city, the new Jerusalem, were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Revelation 21:19-20.

These precious stones mean the Church's truths, which are God's truths. This is clear from the meaning of 'the city, the new Jerusalem', 'the wall of it', and 'the foundations of the wall'. 'The new Jerusalem' means a new Church which will take the place of the one that is ours at the present day; for the Book of Revelation deals with the state of the Church that exists now, through to its end, and then with a new Church, which is the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. 'The wall of it' means the truths of faith that serve to defend it, and 'the foundations' truths that spring from good. Those actual truths in their proper order are specified by the precious stones mentioned by name there. Anyone may see that no Jerusalem is going to come down out of heaven or that anything else mentioned there is literally going to take place, but that this description in every detail means such things as have to do with the Church. The fact that the truths of faith are meant by the foundations of its wall is clear from the consideration that they are the things which guard the Church from every attack, as walls do a city.

'Jerusalem' is the Church, see 2117, 9166.

'Walls' are the truths of faith guarding the Church, 6419.

'Foundations' are truths springing from good, 9643.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering - ruby, topaz, and diamond; tarshish, shoham, and jasper; sapphire, chrysoprase, and carbuncle - and gold. You were on the mountain of the holiness of God, you walked in the midst of stones of fire. Ezekiel 28:12-14.

Here also precious stones mean truths springing from good. For 'Tyre' in the representative internal sense is one who has intelligence and wisdom arising from cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, 1201. This is why its king is said to be 'full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty'. 'Wisdom' has regard to good, and 'beauty' to truth; for all wisdom in heaven is derived from good, and all beauty there is derived from truths springing from good. 'The garden of Eden' means intelligence composed of good, 100, 'garden' meaning real intelligence, 100, 108, 2702. From this it is evident that the stones there mentioned by name mean truths springing from good.

[4] But precisely which truths springing from good are meant by each of the stones in the breastplate will be clear from what is to follow. The fact that they mean all truths and forms of good in their entirety is clear from the following considerations: They were twelve and had the names of the sons of Israel or the tribes inscribed on them, the forms of good and the truths of heaven and the Church in their entirety being meant by the twelve tribes, 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397; they therefore meant heaven and all the communities there, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997; the meaning of them varied, depending on the order in which they are mentioned in the Word, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4303, 6337, 6640; and 'twelve' means all, 3272, 3858, 7973.

755. That 'the six hundredth year, the second month, and the seventeenth day' means the second state of temptation follows from what has been stated so far, for verse 6 down to this present verse 11 has dealt with the first state of temptation, which was temptation involving things of his understanding. Now however the second state is dealt with, namely temptation involving things of the will. This is the reason why his age is repeated. Previously it was said that 'he was a son of six hundred years', here that the Flood took place in 'the six hundredth year of his life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day'. No one would ever imagine that Noah's age, worked out to the exact year, month, and day, is used to mean a state of temptation involving things of the will. Yet, as has been stated, this was how the most ancient people spoke and wrote. And they found their chief delight in being able to work out periods of time and names and then to organize them into a semblance of history. It was in this that their wisdom consisted.

[2] It was shown at verse 6 above however that 'six hundred years' means nothing other than an initial state of temptation. Here similarly 'six hundred years' is mentioned. But so that it might mean a second state of temptation, months and days have been added - two months in fact, or rather 'in the second month', which means conflict itself, as becomes clear from the meaning of the number two given already at verse 6 of this chapter. As has been shown and may be seen there, two has the same meaning as six, that is, labour and conflict and also dispersion. The number seventeen however means not only the onset of temptation but also the end of temptation, the reason being that it is the sum of the numbers seven and ten. When this number means the onset of temptation it then entails 'seven days' or a week, which means the onset of temptation, as shown already at verse 4 of this chapter. But when it means the end of temptation, as it does later on in 8:4, seven is then a holy number to which ten, meaning remnants, has been added; for without remnants nobody is able to be regenerated.

[3] That seventeen means the onset of temptation is clear in Jeremiah's being commanded to buy the field from Hanamel his cousin who was in Anathoth, and to weigh out seventeen shekels of silver, Jeremiah 32:9. What comes after that in this chapter of the prophet shows that this number also means their captivity in Babylon, which represents the temptation of people who have faith and the devastation of those who have not. Indeed it represents the onset of temptation and at the same time the end of temptation, which is liberation. That captivity is mentioned in Jeremiah 32:36, and the liberation in Verse 37 onwards. Such a number, like every other word that is used, would never have appeared in this prophet if it did not embody arcana.

[4] That seventeen means the onset of temptation becomes clear also from the age of Joseph, who was seventeen years old when he was sent off to his brothers and was sold into Egypt, Genesis 37:2. His being sold into Egypt represents the same kinds of things, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in that chapter. There the representative historical events did take place as described; here however they are made-up historical events carrying a spiritual meaning, which did not actually take place as described in the sense of the letter. Nevertheless the former embody arcana of heaven, right down to every word, as is the case here. This is bound to seem strange, for when any historical event occurs, true or made-up, the mind (animus) is confined to the letter from which it cannot extricate itself. Hence the conviction that nothing else is meant or represented.

[5] Yet it may become clear to anyone who is intelligent that some internal sense exists which has the life of the Word in it, but not in the letter, which devoid of the internal sense is dead. Without the internal sense what would any historical description be but history as found in any secular author? And so what would be the use of knowing Noah's exact age, or the month and day when the Flood took place, if it did not embody a heavenly arcanum? And who cannot see that 'all the fountains of the great deep were split open, and the floodgates of heaven were opened' is a prophetic utterance, as is much else besides?