Which purpose does the double colon serve in an analogy

The double colon in an analogy serves to symbolize the relationship between two sets of words or phrases. It is used to equate or compare the two parts of the analogy. For example, if the analogy is "Hot is to cold as fire is to ice," the double colon is used to connect each pair of related words (hot:cold and fire:ice) and show the similar relationship between them.