THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE

ACCORDING TO WHAT HAS BEEN HEARD FROM HEAVEN

WITH AN INTRODUCTION CONCERNING THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

1413. 'To the land which I will cause you to see' means the spiritual and celestial things that were to be brought to view. This is clear from the meaning of 'a land', 662, 1066, and indeed from the meaning here of 'the land of Canaan' which represents the Lord's kingdom, as becomes clear from many places in the Word. For this reason the land of Canaan is called the Holy Land, and also the heavenly Canaan. And since it represented the Lord's kingdom, it also represented and meant the celestial and spiritual things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, and here those that belong to the Lord Himself.

9717. 'Square shall the altar be' means that which for this reason is righteous. This is clear from the meaning of 'square' as what is righteous, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as what is representative of the Lord and of the worship of Him, so that 'square shall the altar be' means what is righteous within the Lord, and consequently within worship. Worship is called righteous when the good and the truth contained within it spring from the Lord and not from the person, for the Lord alone is the source of that which is righteous, 9263. The meaning of 'square' as what is righteous has its origin in representative signs in the next life. There forms of good present themselves as round shapes, and forms of good belonging to the external man, which are called righteous acts, as square shapes. Truths and right ideas however present themselves as linear and triangular ones. So it is then that 'square' means what is righteous, as does the squareness of the altar of incense, Exodus 30:2; also the squareness of the breastplate of judgement when doubled, Exodus 28:16; as well as the new Jerusalem's being square-shaped, Revelation 21:16. The new Jerusalem there is the Lord's New Church which will take the place of the one that is ours at the present day, its external good, which is righteous, being meant by 'square-shaped'.