In the preface to the rules, the author, fond of symbolism and analogies throughout the text, identifies the two rules as a parallel between a lady and her maidservant. The inner rules, said to be the most important of the rules, are the lady, and the outer rules, are the maidservant. .
The rules regarding the outer were a guide to an anchoress's food, clothing, etc. while the inner, and more important, rules were regarding her spiritual growth and her heart. The stress on the inner rules is obvious, as seven of the eight sections are devoted to it. The only purpose of the maidservant is to serve the lady, just as the rules for the outer self were only to serve the inner self to make it "even and smooth and makes the heart right" (Ackerman). The analogy between the rules of the body and the rules of the soul play out literally in the anchoress's life, figuratively in her relationship with God, and in the larger social structure of feudalism.
The author states, "You should in all ways with all your might and strength guard well the inner and the outer for her sake. The inner is always the same, the outer differs; for each should keep the outer according to the way she can best serve the inner using her". One could not have a pure soul if their outer self was not being properly cared for as well. The outer self was a means in which to feed the inner self. Moreover, the author writes that an anchoress "should not in any way promise to keep any of the exterior rules as though under a vow" because the outer rules could be tailored to suit each anchoress, but the inner rules could not be changed because "[t]his rule is not of man's invention but is God's commandment she is without change and all ought to hold to her in the same way forever" (Ackerman).
When an anchoress entered into seclusion in her anchor hold, she was given the final rites to symbolize her death to the world so that she may enter an environment of pure worship (Hasenfratz).