And you shall hang it on four pillars of shittim, overlaid with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold on four bases of silver. You shall make a veil of violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine-twined linen.

The first of these, the veil itself, which was a screen in front of the Ark, is referred to in Moses, (But what was meant by the enveloping covers will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.) The Tabernacle had three veils, the first, which made a division between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies the second, which is called a screen serving as a door into the tent the third, which is called a screen serving as a gate into the court. Since the matter of rational truths being like a covering or garment to spiritual truths is being discussed here, and since in Moses a description of the Tent is given - of its coverings or of its screens, and also of its veils in front of places of entry - let an explanation be given, for the sake of illustration, of what specifically was meant by the veils. It was this that gave it its holiness, not the gold and silver and the carvings that were in it. This becomes clear from the plan of it that was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai, Exodus 25:9 26:30.

Every single one of 'the coverings' there, that is, the veils and screens, represented the exterior celestial and spiritual things within the Lord's kingdom, that is to say, within the three heavens. 'The Ark' there, which was inmost, represented the Lord Himself, for the Testimony belonged there, while 'the tent' outside of it represented the Lord's kingdom. Their exteriors are a covering or garment as with the Ark of the Covenant and the tent surrounding it. Nor does this apply only to angels but also to everything else, even inanimate objects, mentioned in the Word. It is similar in the case of angels who have been seen and whose faces and clothing are described in the Word, such as those seen in the Lord's tomb, Matthew 28:3 Mark 16:5 and the twenty-four elders around the throne, Revelation 4:4 and others. The interior parts of their beings shine from their faces, while the exterior are represented both in their bodies and in the clothes they are wearing, so completely that anyone there may recognize the character of those angels simply from the clothes they are wearing for every angel consists of real substance and so is an essence given outward form. This becomes clear in particular from the things that are seen in the next life, for example, from angels when these are presented to view. Those which are more exterior however derive their life from the soul, and each one of them is like a body, or what amounts to the same, a covering or garment.

Man's inmost parts consist in goods and truths from which the soul has its life, or else the soul would not be a soul. As regards rational truths being like a covering or garment for spiritual truths, the position is that the inmost parts of man's being belong to his soul, while the more exterior belong to his body. Many historical inferences might indeed be drawn from the sense of the letter, but none of these would have anything spiritual in them, still less anything Divine. Anyone may see that each detail in this verse holds arcana within it which cannot be brought to light except by some interior sense - such as the detail that it is said 'he gave a thousand pieces of silver to her brother' not 'to her husband' or the details that it was 'a covering of the eyes', and that it was 'for her and all who were with her', also 'with all' or the detail 'so she was vindicated'. This is clear from the meaning of 'a covering', to be dealt with immediately below, and from the meaning of 'the eyes' as things of the understanding, as is evident from very many places in the Word, and also from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding, 2150, 2325. 'Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes for all who are with you' means that rational truths are like a covering or garment for spiritual truths.

Pillars of inmost light