§180 angels’ clothes 95
c. Pure white and soft white in the Word mean what is true, because they come from light in
heaven: 3301 , 3993 , 4001 [ 4007 ].
d. Colors in heaven are variegations of the light there: 1042 , 1043 , 1053 , 1624 , 3993 , 4530 , 4742 ,
4922. Colors mean various things that are matters of intelligence and wisdom: 4530 , 4922 , 4677 ,
9466. The precious stones in the Urim and Thummim, depending on their colors, meant all the
truths in the heavens that stem from what is good: 9865 , 9868 , 9905. To the extent that colors are
derived from red, they mean what is good; while to the extent that they are derived from white,
they mean what is true: 9476.
e. All the people in the inmost heaven are innocent, and therefore seem to be naked: 154 , 165 , 297 ,
2736 , 3887 , 8375 , 9960. Innocence is manifested in heaven as nudity: 165 , 8375 , 9960. For inno-
cent and chaste people, nudity is not a matter of shame because there is no occasion for offense:
165 , 213 , 8375.
f. Jerusalem means the church where there is genuine doctrine: 402 , 3654 , 9166.
and soft white correspond to what is true,c and colors correspond to dif-
ferent shadings of truth.d The reason angels in the inmost heaven are
naked is that they are in innocence, and innocence corresponds to
nudity.e
Since angels wear clothes in heaven, they have appeared clothed 180
when they were seen in our world, like the ones seen by the prophets and
the ones by the Lord’s tomb, whose “appearance was like lightning and
whose clothes were gleaming and white” (Matthew 28 : 3 ; Mark 16 : 5 ; Luke
22 : 4 [ 24 : 4 ]; John 20 : 11 , 13 [ 20 : 12 ]) and the ones seen in heaven by John
whose “garments were of linen and white” (Revelation 4 : 4 ; 19 : 11 , 13 ). And
since intelligence comes from divine truth, the Lord’s garments, when he
was transfi gured, were “gleaming and white as light” (Matthew 17 : 2 ;
Mark 9 : 3 ; Luke 9 : 29 : on light as divine truth emanating from the Lord,
see § 129 above). This is why garments in the Word mean things true and
the intelligence that results from them, as in John: “Those who have not
defi led their garments will walk with me in white, because they are wor-
thy; whoever overcomes will be clothed with white garments” (Revela-
tion 3 : 4 , 5 ); and “Blessed are those who are watchful and take care of
their garments” (Revelation 16 : 15 ).
Concerning Jerusalem, meaning the church as it is focused on what is
true,f it says in Isaiah, “Rise up, put on your strength, O Zion; put on the
garments of your beauty, O Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52 : 1 ); and in Ezekiel, “O
Jerusalem, I have clothed you with linen, I have veiled you with silk, your
garments are linen and silk” (Ezekiel 16 : 10 , 13 ); and many other passages.
In contrast, someone who is not engaged with truths is said not to
be wearing a wedding garment, as in Matthew: “When the king came in,
he saw the one not wearing a wedding garment and said, ‘Friend, how
have you come in here without a wedding garment?’ So that one was