171. There is no way to describe briefly how things look to angels in the heavens. To a considerable extent, they look like the things we see on earth, but they are more perfect in form and also more abundant.

We may conclude that there are things like this in the heavens because of what the prophets saw - for example what Ezekiel saw of the new temple and the new earth as described in chapters 40-48 [of his book], what Daniel describes in his chapters 7-12, what John saw as described from the first through the last chapter of Revelation, along with other visions presented in both the historical and the prophetic books of the Word. They saw things like this when heaven was opened to them, and heaven is said to be opened when our inner sight, the sight of our spirit, is opened. For the things that exist in heaven cannot be seen with our physical eyes, but only with the eyes of our spirit; and when it pleases the Lord, these are opened. At such times we are led out of the natural light that our physical senses are in and raised into the spiritual light in which we dwell because of our spirit. This is the light in which I have seen the things that exist in the heavens.

2989. It may also be known that images do not take shape in the mind exactly as they present themselves in the countenance, but are purely affections that take shape there. Nor do acts take shape in the mind exactly as they present themselves through actions in the body; rather, it is thoughts that are configured there. Things that belong to the mind are spiritual while those that belong to the body are natural. From this it is evident that a correspondence exists between spiritual things and natural, and that there is a representation of spiritual things within natural. Or what amounts to the same, when the things that belong to the internal man take shape in the external, the things which are visible in the external are representative of the internal, and those in the external which accord with those in the internal are correspondent.