620. Verse 10. And I took the little book out of the hand of the angel, and ate it up, signifies exploration. This is evident from the things that precede, namely, that "the little book" means the Word, "the angel" the Lord in relation to the Word, and "to devour or to eat it" means to receive, perceive, and appropriate to oneself, consequently to explore, here of what quality the understanding of the Word still is in the church. Exploration is effected by means of a thing's being perceived and the way in which it is perceived; it was effected with the prophet John, because a "prophet" signifies the doctrine of the church, and in a universal sense, the Word.

314. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying. (6:6) This symbolizes the Divine protection of the Word by the Lord.

To be shown that the four living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word from the firsts of it in its lasts, and its protections to keep its interior truths and goods from being violated, see no. 239 above. Moreover, because these protections come from the Lord, therefore John heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures. In the midst of them means the Word in respect to its inner, spiritual sense, which the Lord protects.

That the symbolism is one of protection is apparent from what the voice said, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine," which symbolically means that because the value these people placed on goodness and truth was so little as to be scarcely anything, provision had to be made to keep them from violating and profaning the sacred goods and truths that lie hidden interiorly in the Word. And the Lord provided this by their at last knowing not any good and so not any truth, but only evil and falsity. For people who know goods and truths can violate them, indeed profane them, but not people who are ignorant of them.

To be shown that this is Divinely provided to protect the Word, see Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence, nos. 221-233, 257 at the end, and 258 at the beginning.