297. Celestial good is not clothed, because it is inmost, and is innocent; but celestial spiritual good is that which is first clothed, and then natural good, for these are more external, and on that account are compared to and are called "garments;" as in Ezekiel, speaking of the Ancient Church:
I clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger, I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk (Ezek. 16:10). In Isaiah:
Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness (Isa. 52:1). In Revelation:
Who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy (Rev. 3:4-5), where it is likewise said of the four and twenty elders that they were "clothed in white raiment" (4:4). Thus the more external goods, which are celestial spiritual, and natural, are "garments;" wherefore also those who are endowed with the goods of charity appear in heaven clothed in shining garments; but here, because still in the body, with a "coat of skin."
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