10194. 'And overlay them with gold' means the founding of all things on good. This is clear from the meaning of 'overlaying with gold' as founding on good, dealt with in 9490. What being founded on good is must be stated briefly. Some people think that truth is what all things are founded on, but they are very much mistaken; for no truth exists with a person unless he has good within him. Truth existing with a person which is devoid of good is something external without an internal, thus like a shell without a nut; it resides solely in the memory. Such truth may be likened to a painting of a flower, a tree, or a living creature; below the surface it is simply mud. But truth springing from good does not merely reside in the memory, it is also deeply implanted in the person's life, and may be likened to the actual flower, tree, or living creature, whose perfection increases the more inwardly it is examined. For with anything created by the Divine the more internal it is, the more perfect it becomes. This is made abundantly clear by representatives in the next life. The representatives there are visual images that accord with the states of spirits' interiors, for these images are correspondences. Around spirits in possession of truths rooted in good extremely beautiful images are seen, that is to say, houses and palaces flashing with gold and precious stones, and also gardens and parks indescribably beautiful. All these sights are due to correspondence. But around those in possession of truths not rooted in good nothing other than rocky places, cliffs, and ponds are seen; or sometimes places with trees are seen, but they are unattractive and barren. These sights too are due to correspondence. Around those however who are steeped in falsities arising from evil, swamps, latrines, and many other horrible sights appear. The reason why these things should be so is that all representatives in that world are outward figures shaped in accord with the states of inner things; for it is in this way that the spiritual world makes itself visible. All this goes to show what being founded on good is.