1. THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH, AND WHAT IS MEANT BY THE NEW JERUSALEM.

It is written in the Apocalypse:

I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride before her husband. The city had a wall, great and high, which had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, in which were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The city itself lieth four-square, and the length is as great as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand stadia; the length and the breadth and the height of it were equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is, of an angel. And the wall of it was of jasper; and the city itself was pure gold, like unto pure glass; and the foundations of the wall of the city were of every precious stone. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were pellucid glass. The glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp of it was the Lamb. The nations which were saved shall walk in the light of it; and the Kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. (Revelation 21:1-2, 12-24.)

The man who reads these things, understands them only according to the sense of the letter; namely, that the visible heaven and earth will perish, and a new heaven will exist, and that the holy city Jerusalem, answering to the measures above described, will descend upon the new earth; but the angels understand these things altogether differently; namely, what man understands naturally, they understand spiritually; and as the angels understand, so they signify; and this is the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. In the internal or spiritual sense, "a New Heaven and a New Earth" means a New Church, both in the heavens and on the earth, which will be more particularly spoken of hereafter. "The city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven" signifies its heavenly doctrine; "the length," "the breadth," and "the height," which are equal, signify all the goods and truths of that doctrine in the aggregate. By "the wall" of it is meant the truths which protect it; "the measure of the wall," which is "a hundred forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel," signifies all those protecting truths in the aggregate, and their quality. "The twelve gates" of pearl mean introductory truths; "the twelve angels at the gates" signify the same. "The foundations of the wall" which are "of every precious stone," mean the knowledges on which that doctrine is founded. "The twelve tribes of Israel," and "the twelve apostles," mean all things of the church in general and in particular. The city and its streets being of "gold like unto pure glass," signifies the good of love from which the doctrine and its truths are pellucid. "The nations" who are saved, and "the kings of the earth" who bring glory and honor into it, mean all of the church who are in goods and truths. "God" and "the Lamb" mean the Lord as to the Divine itself and the Divine Human. Such is the spiritual sense of the Word, to which the natural sense, which is that of the letter, serves as a basis; but still these two senses, the spiritual and the natural, form a one by correspondences. It is not the design of the present work to show that there is such a spiritual meaning in the afore-mentioned passages, but the proof of it may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, in the following places: In the Word by "land" [earth] the church is signified, particularly when it is applied to the land of Canaan (n. 662, 1066-1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643). Because by "land" in the spiritual sense is meant the nation dwelling therein, and its worship (n. 1262), "the people of the land" signify those who are of the spiritual church (n. 2928). "A New Heaven and a New Earth" signify something new in the heavens and on earth, as to goods and truths, thus as to those things that relate to the church in each (n. 1733, 1850, 2117-2118, 3355, 4535, 10373). What is meant by "the first heaven and the first earth" which passed away, may be seen in Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed, from beginning to end, but particularly n. 65-72.

"Jerusalem" signifies the church as to doctrine (n. 402, 3654, 9166). "Cities" signify doctrines which are of the church and religion (n. 402, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492-4493). "The wall of a city" signifies the truth of doctrine defending (n. 6419). "The gates of a city" signify truths introducing to doctrine, and through doctrine to the church (n. 2943, 4477, 4492-4493). "The twelve tribes of Israel" represented, and thence signified, all the truths and goods of the church in general and in particular, thus all things of faith and love (n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335). The same is signified by "the Lord's twelve apostles" (n. 2129, 3272, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397). When it is said of the apostles, that "they shall sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel," it signifies that all are to be judged according to the goods and truths of the church, thus by the Lord from whom they are (n. 2129, 6397). "Twelve" signifies all things in the aggregate (n. 577, 2089, 2129-2130, 3272, 3858, 3913). Also "a hundred forty-four" signifies the same because that number is the product of twelve multiplied by twelve (n. 7973); "twelve thousand" has also the same signification (n. 7973). All numbers in the Word signify things (n. 482, 487, 647-648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253). Numbers multiplied into each other have the same signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). "Measure" signifies the quality of a thing as to truth and good (n. 3104, 9603, 10262). "The foundations of a wall" signify the knowledges of truth on which doctrinals are founded (n. 9643). "Quadrangular" or "square" signifies what is perfect (n. 9717, 9861). "Length" signifies good and its extension, and "breadth" truth and its extension (n. 1613, 9487). "Precious stones" signify truths from good (n. 114, 9863, 9865). What "the precious stones" in the Urim and Thummim signify, both in general and in particular (n. 3862, 9864, 9866, 9891, 9895, 9905). What the "jasper" of which the wall was built signifies (n. 9872). "The street of the city" signifies the truth of doctrine from good (n. 2336). "Gold" signifies the good of love (n. 113, 1551-1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881). "Glory" signifies the Divine truth, such as it is in heaven, and the intelligence and wisdom thence (n. 4809, 5068, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429[1-7], 10574). "Nations" signify those in the church who are in good, and, in the abstract sense, the good of the church (n. 1059, 1159, 1258, 1261, 1285, 1416, 1849, 4574, 7830, 9255-9256). "Kings" signify those in the church who are in truths, and thence abstractly the truth of the church (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 5044). The rites at the coronation of kings, involve such things as are of the Divine truth, but the knowledge of these things is at this day lost (n. 4581, 4966).

9881. 'From pure gold' means through celestial good. This is clear from the meaning of 'gold' as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510; and since the words 'pure gold' are used celestial good is what is meant. For there is celestial good and there is spiritual good, both of which may be internal or external, celestial good being the good of love to the Lord, and spiritual good the good of love towards the neighbour. In the Word all those kinds of good are called 'gold'. But they are distinguished from one another by being called gold 'from Uphaz', 'from Ophir', 'from Sheba' and 'Havillah', and also 'from Tarshish' - gold from Uphaz in Jeremiah 10:9; Daniel 10:5, by which celestial good is meant; gold from Ophir in Isaiah 13:12; Psalms 45:9; Job 22:24; 28:16, by which spiritual good is meant; gold from Sheba in Isaiah 60:6; Ezekiel 27:22; Psalms 72:15, by which good on the level of religious knowledge is meant, as it is by gold from Havillah in Genesis 2:11-12; and also silver and gold from Tarshish, in Isaiah 60:9, by which truth and good on the level of factual knowledge are meant.

6516. 'In my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you are to bury me' means that it - the Church - was to be restored to life where the previous one had existed. This is clear from the meaning of 'a grave' and 'burying' as restoring to life, dealt with in 5551; and from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as the Lord's kingdom and the Church, dealt with in 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3705, 4240, 4447. The reason Jacob wished to be buried in the land of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac had been buried, and not in any other place was that his descendants were going to possess that land, and so he would be lying among his own people. But in the internal sense not this but something else is meant, namely regeneration and resurrection, because these are what the Church resides in. For 'burial' means in the internal sense regeneration and resurrection, 2916, 1917, 4621, 5551. While 'the land of Canaan' means the Church, as is evident from the places referred to above in the present paragraph, and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent the Lord as regards the Divine itself and the Divine Human, and in the relative sense the Lord's kingdom as regards the internal aspect and the external aspect of it, 1965, 1989, 2011, 3245, 3305 (end), 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276. This then is what is meant in the internal sense by the burial of them in that land; and it explains why among Jews who believe in resurrection the conviction continues to exist that even though they have been buried in some other place they will nevertheless rise again in the land of Canaan.

[2] The reason why it is said that the Church was to be restored to life in the place where the previous one had existed is that the Lord's Church had existed in that land since most ancient times, see 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136. It also explains why Abraham was told to go there and why the descendants of Jacob were led into it. And the reason for all this was not that the land was holier than all others but that since most ancient times all the locations there, both provinces and cities as well as mountains and rivers, had been representative of such things as belonged to the Lord's kingdom; and the actual names conferred on those locations implied such things. For every particular name supplied from heaven to a place or person implies some celestial or spiritual reality; and when the name has been supplied from heaven, that reality is perceived by them there. The Most Ancient Church too, which was celestial and was in contact with heaven, was one that used to confer names. The reason therefore why the Church was to exist again in that land was that a Word was going to be given in which every detail would be representative of and would mean some spiritual or celestial reality, and that Word would accordingly be understood in heaven no less than on earth. But this could not possibly have been accomplished unless also the names of places and persons had had spiritual meanings. This is the reason why the descendants of Jacob were led into that land, why prophets were raised up there through whom the Word was written, and therefore why a representative of the Church was established among Jacob's descendants. From all this one may see the reason for the statement that the Church was to be restored to life where the previous one had existed.

[3] The fact that names in the Word mean spiritual things may be seen in 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888, 4442, 5225, as well as in the multitude of places where explanations are given of what their meanings are. But the fact that in heaven they perceive what the meanings are of names used in the Word, and that they do this without prior instruction, is an arcanum unknown as yet to anyone and must therefore be described. When the Word is read the Lord comes in and teaches; also - and this is one of the marvels in the spiritual world - writings exist, which I have frequently seen and been able to read yet not understand. But good spirits and angels understand them perfectly well because those writings accord with the universal language they speak. I have been led to know that individual words used there, even individual letters, hold within themselves the kinds of things that belong to that world, thus spiritual things, and that these are perceived there from the breath that is used, and from the affection resulting from the uttering of those words, thus from the varying smooth or rough delivery of them. But it is probable that hardly anyone will believe this. This arcanum has been disclosed so that people may know that those in heaven perceive instantly what the meanings are of names used in the Word, because those names are registered in heaven.