[117] Accordingly, this is his abode, discernible only by the intellect; but the world is perceptible by the outward senses; since Moses made the curtains of such things as are symbols of the four elements, for they were made of fine flax, and of hyacinthine colour, and of purple, and of scarlet, —four numbers, as I have said before. Now the fine flax is an emblem of the earth, for the flax grows out of the earth; and the hyacinthine colour is a symbol of the air, for it is black by nature; purple (πορφύρα), again, is a symbol of the water; for the cause of this dye is derived from the sea, being the shell-fish of the same name (ἡ πορφύρα); and scarlet is a symbol of fire, for it most nearly resembles a flame.