404. Verse 14. And the heaven departed as a book rolled up, signifies that the spiritual man became closed up. This is evident from the signification of "heaven," as being the church in general and in particular; for the church is the heaven of the Lord on the earth; moreover, the church makes one with heaven by conjunction; therefore when "heaven and earth" are mentioned in the Word, the church internal and external is meant, for the internal of the men of the church is heaven with them, and their external is the world with them; and as "heaven and earth" signify the church internal and external so they signify the internal and external man, or the spiritual and the natural man; for as man in whom is the good of love and of faith is a church, so the church, in general exists from the men in whom the church is. This makes clear why it is that "heaven" here means the internal or spiritual man. It is said "the spiritual man," by which is meant the spiritual mind, which is the higher or interior mind of man, while the lower or exterior mind is called the natural man. The above is evident also from the signification of "departed as a book rolled up," as meaning that it became closed up; for the spiritual mind, which is, as was said, the higher or interior mind with man, is opened by truths applied to life, thus by goods, but it is closed up by falsities applied to life, thus by evils; and the closing up is as the rolling up of the scroll of a book. That this is so was made very clear by the appearances in the spiritual world when the Last Judgment was accomplished; for the mountains and the hills there then appeared sometimes to be rolled up as the scroll of a book is rolled up, and those that were upon them were then rolled down into hell. The cause of this appearance was this: that the interiors of their minds, through which somewhat of light from heaven had before flowed in, were then closed up. What takes place in general with many, takes place with everyone in particular of a like character, for in the spiritual world such as the general is, such is the particular (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 73). By "book" is meant a scroll, because in ancient times there were no types and thus no books like those at the present day, but there were scrolls of parchments; so "books" in Revelation mean scrolls, and "heaven departed as a book rolled up" means as a scroll rolled up; the same as in Isaiah:

All the host of the heavens shall waste away, and the heavens shall be rolled up as a book (Isaiah 34:4).

430. 'A little one' or little child in the Word means innocence, and also charity, for true innocence does not exist without charity, nor true charity without innocence. There are three degrees of innocence, which are distinguished in the Word as sucklings, infants, and little children. And because true innocence cannot exist without true love and charity these same three, sucklings, infants, and little children, also mean three degrees of love, which are the tender love which is like that of a suckling for mother or nursemaid; the love which is like that of an infant for parents; and charity which is like a little child's attitude towards its teacher; as in Isaiah,

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6.

Here 'lamb', 'kid', and 'calf' stand for the three degrees of innocence and of love, 'wolf', 'leopard', and 'young lion' for their opposites. 'A little child' stands for charity.

[2] In Jeremiah,

You commit great evil against your own souls by cutting off from you man (vir) and wife, infant and suckling from the midst of Judah, not leaving you a remnant. Jeremiah 44:7.

'Man and wife' stands for things connected with the understanding of truth and with the will for good. 'Infant and suckling' stands for the initial degrees of love. That 'infant' and 'little child' mean innocence and charity is quite clear from the Lord's words in Luke,

They brought infants to Jesus that He might touch them. He said, Let the little ones come to Me and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Luke 18:15-17.

Being innocence itself and Love itself the Lord Himself is called a Little One or Little Child in Isaiah 9:6, where He is also referred to as Wonderful, Counsellor, God, the Mighty One, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.