114. The men of the Most Ancient Church lived in true conjugial love to a greater degree than any other inhabitants of this planet. They are those who were described by the ancients as having lived in the golden age, when innocence, love, and justice reigned; their heaven was in that love. But among their successors, after the loss of acknowledgment of the Lord and consequently love to Him, conjugial love was lost though the love of children remained. But children can be loved even by the wicked, whereas a wife can only be loved by the good.

Brass and iron as in Isaiah 48:4 and Daniel 7:19 signify what is hard.

In Genesis 4:22, brass signifies natural good. (Arcana Coelestia 421)

In Numbers 21:9, this signifies the Lord's divine natural. (Apocalypse Revealed 49)

Brass also signifies the good in man's natural and the sensuous in the Lord. (Arcana Coelestia 197, Apocalypse Revealed 49, Apocalypse Explained 705)

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Explained 70)