2. Before treating of the New Jerusalem and its doctrine, something shall be said of the New Heaven and the New Earth. In the small work on The Last Judgment and the Destruction of Babylon it was shown what is meant by the "first heaven and the first earth" which had passed away. After they had passed away, and thus after the Last Judgment had been accomplished, the new heaven was created, that is, formed by the Lord. This heaven was formed of all those who after the Lord's advent even to the present time, had lived a life of faith and charity; since they alone were forms of heaven. For the form of heaven, according to which all consociations and communications are there effected, is the form of Divine Truth from the Divine Good which proceeds from the Lord; and this form a man puts on as to his spirit by a life according to Divine Truth.

That the form of heaven is from this source, may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell 200-212; and that all angels are forms of heaven, in Heaven and Hell 51-58, 73-77. From this it may be known, of whom the new heaven was composed, and hence also what its quality is; namely, that it is altogether of one mind; for he, who lives a life of faith and charity, loves another as himself, and through love conjoins him to himself, and thus reciprocally and mutually, because love in the spiritual world is conjunction. When, therefore, all act alike, then from many, yea, from countless numbers consociated according to the form of heaven, there arises one mind, and there results, as it were, a one; for there is nothing which separates and divides, but everything conjoins and unites.

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.

6315. The person whose life has been raised up from the level of the senses by means of the good of faith is by turns in light on the sensory level and in light on a more internal one. When worldly cares occupy his attention, or he is among groups of people in which external interests flourish, or he indulges in mere pleasures, he is living on the sensory level. In this state he avoids and also objects to talking and thinking about God and matters of faith. If he did talk or think about them in that state he would consider them to be worthless unless he were instantly raised by the Lord from that level to more internal things. But when that person is not taken up with worldly things but sees in light on a more internal level, what is right and fair is the basis of his thought; and if he sees in light on a still more internal level, what is spiritually true and good is the basis of it. The person who leads a good life is raised from light on one level to that on another; he is raised to a more internal level the instant he begins to have evil thoughts, for angels are close by him. I have been allowed to know these things through experiences I have had, for I have frequently been aware of being raised up, and at the same time of changes of state in both my affections and my thoughts.