9687. 'From violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine twined linen' means composed of the good of charity and faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'violet', 'purple', 'twice-dyed scarlet', and 'fine twined linen', where the veil, meaning the uniting intermediary between the inmost and middle heavens, is the subject. There these materials mean forms of the good of love and faith, dealt with in 9671; here however they mean forms of the good of charity and faith since the subject is the screen, by which the uniting intermediary between the second and lowest heavens is meant, 9686. For in the inmost heaven the good of love to the Lord is predominant, but in the middle heaven the good of charity towards the neighbour, and in the lowest heaven the good of faith. So it is that 'violet', 'purple', 'twice-dyed scarlet', and 'fine twined linen' mean the forms of good predominant in those heavens.

2850. 'And like the sand which is on the seashore' means a whole multitude of correspondent facts. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sea' as facts in general or a gathering together of them, dealt with in 28, 2120, and from the meaning of 'the sand' as facts individually and separately. Facts are compared to 'the sand' because in the internal sense the particles of stone from which the sand is formed mean facts, 643, 1298. Both comparisons are made here - that they will be multiplied 'as the stars of the heavens' and 'as the sand on the seashore 'because 'stars', or cognitions, are related to the rational, whereas 'the sand of the seashore', or facts, are related to the natural. When the things that belong to the rational man, namely the goods and truths present in cognitions, so exist in accordance with the things that belong to the natural man, that is to say, with facts, that they make one or mutually support each other, they in that case correspond. The Lord brings man's rational concepts and his natural images into this state of correspondence when He regenerates him, that is, makes him spiritual. It is for this reason that both the stars of the heavens and the sand on the seashore are mentioned here. Otherwise one phrase would have been sufficient.