3699. 'And behold, a stairway set up on the earth' means a communication of lowest truth and of good derived from this truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a stairway' as communication, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'the earth' as what is lowest, for immediately after this it is stated that its top reached to heaven, which is the highest point. From this it is evident that a stairway between earth and heaven, or what is lowest and what is highest, is communication. For it is the communication of lowest truth and of good derived from this truth that is meant by 'a stairway set up on the earth', as is evident from the fact that that degree of truth and of good derived from it, which 'Jacob' represents here, is the subject at this point in the internal sense.

[2] In the original language the word for a stairway is derived from a word meaning a pathway or highway, which is used in reference to truth, see 627, 2333. Furthermore when angels are discussing truth their discussion manifests itself representatively in the world of spirits as pathways, see 189, 3477. From this it is evident what 'a stairway' means, one end of which is set up on the earth while the other reaches up to heaven. That is to say, it means a communication of truth in the lowest place with truth in the highest place, a communication dealt with below. For there are lowest truths and goods and highest truths and goods, and degrees of them in between like a stairway, see 3691.

3477. It has been stated that in heaven representatives are of constant occurrence, such representatives in fact as embody wisdom's deepest arcana. Those that are evident to man from the literal sense of the Word are comparatively few, as few as the waters of a tiny pond when compared to the waters of the ocean. What the representatives in heaven are like may become clear from what I have related several times already from things I have seen, and also from the following: To certain spirits, as I saw, there were represented the broad road and the narrow road mentioned in the Word - the broad road which would lead them to hell, and the narrow to heaven. The broad road was planted with trees and flowers, and other such things as in outward appearance looked beautiful and delightful. But various types of snakes and serpents which they did not see had been concealed there. The narrow road was not adorned in the same way with trees and flower-beds for the eye to see but looked sad and dreary. Yet there were along that road young angel-children adorned most attractively among very lovely tree-gardens and flower-gardens, which those spirits however did not see. They were at that point asked which road they wished to take. They said, The broad one. But all of a sudden their eyes were opened and they saw the serpents along the broad road, but the angels along the narrow one. They were then again asked which road they wished to take. This time they were at a loss and remained silent. As long as their sight was opened they said that they wished to take the narrow road; but as long as it was closed they said that they wished to take the broad one.