These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them. A "path" is something different, suitable only for walking or maybe bicycles, and a "way" has more to do with giving directions than any physical reality. When we get "lost" it usually means we're in a car on an unfamiliar road -- a far cry from being in the middle of a trackless wilderness with no idea which direction to go. The ancient world was very different, with isolated towns and endless square miles of trackless wilderness. Then a "way" was a set of landmarks to follow to get from one place to another through the wilderness. A "path" was a way used enough to leave a visible trace on the ground, and a "road" was a heavily used path, easily followed and walkable. So it makes sense that when used in the Bible, all three terms represent guiding truth, ideas that lead us where we want to go. This is pictured in the modern use of "way" -- when we talk about the "way" to do something or the "way" to get somewhere. We're talking about the correct, best, most efficient method of doing something or getting somewhere. And it's good information -- truth -- that helps us find that best way.

771. Verse 18. ¹ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, signifies continuation of the state of those who are signified by "the dragon." This is evident from the signification of "standing upon the sand of the sea," as being to continue to see of what quality those are who are meant by "the dragon," for it follows that "he saw a beast coming up out of the sea, to which the dragon gave his power and his throne, and his authority;" and afterwards that "he saw a beast coming up out of the earth that spake as a dragon," and other things that follow. And as by means of these beasts the state of those who are dragons is further described, therefore this is what is signified by "standing upon the sand of the sea." Moreover, "the sand of the sea" signifies sterility, such as is with those who think indeed about faith, but not at all about the life of faith, which is charity, for where such dwell in the spiritual world nothing is seen but heaps of stones and also sand, and rarely any grass or shrub; this, too, is why "the sand of the sea" signifies the state of those who are meant by "the dragon. "

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