429. Verse 4. And I heard the number of those sealed, signifies the quality of those who are in good who are separated from the evil. This is evident from the signification of "number," as being the quality of the thing treated of (of which presently); also from the signification of "those sealed," as being those who are in good, distinguished and separated from others (of which just above, n. 427. "Number" and "measure" are mentioned in many passages in the Word, and it is believed that these mean simply number and measure; but "number" and "measure" in the spiritual sense mean the quality of the thing treated of. The quality itself is determined by the numbers expressed, as here by the "hundred and forty-four thousand," and afterwards the "twelve thousand" out of every tribe. What is signified by these numbers will be told in the following article. Number signifies the quality of the thing treated of for the reason that the Word is spiritual, and therefore each and every thing that it contains is spiritual, and spiritual things are not numbered or measured, but still they fall into numbers and measures when they come down out of the spiritual world or out of heaven where the angels are into the natural world or upon the earth where men are; and likewise in the Word, when they come down out of its spiritual sense in which the angels are into the natural sense in which men are; the natural sense of the Word is the sense of its letter. This is why there are numbers in that sense, and why the numbers there signify things spiritual, or such as pertain to heaven and the church. That the spiritual things of heaven, such as the angels think and speak about, also fall into numbers, has often been shown to me. When they spoke with each other, what they said was determined into pure numbers, which were seen upon paper; and they afterwards said that this was what they had said determined into numbers, and that these numbers in series contained everything they had said; I was also taught what they signified and how they were to be understood; this will be spoken of frequently in what follows. (But respecting writings in pure numbers out of heaven, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 263; that all numbers in the Word signify the things of heaven and the church, see above, n. 203, 336[1-10])

7833. 'According to the household of his fathers, a member of the flock according to the household' means according to each one's specific kind of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'household of fathers' as one family's good, distinct from another's good; for 'a father's house' means a person in respect of internal good, 3128. The implications of this are as follows: All the tribes of Israel mean all forms of the truth and good of faith and charity in their entirety, each tribe meaning one general kind of good or of truth, see 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6375, 6377, 6640. Thus every separate family within a tribe meant a specific kind of good, and therefore the good of one specifically, distinct from another's good. But the household of the fathers within a family meant an individual type belonging to one specific kind. The reason why all these kinds of good were meant by the tribes, families, and households into which the children of Israel were divided was in order that they might represent heaven; for the varieties of good there are divided into general, specific, and individual. And these determine the ways in which angels are linked to one another. It should be recognized that one person's good is never exactly the same as another's good. Rather, they are varied, so varied that they can be distinguished into higher overall categories, and these into lower sub-divisions, down to particular and most particular kinds. Regarding forms of the good of love and faith, that they are so varied, see 684, 690, 3241, 3267, 3744-3746, 3986, 4005, 4149, 5598, 7236. From this it may now be evident why they were commanded to take for themselves each one a member of the flock according to the household of his fathers, a member according to the household.