505. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days. (11:9) This symbolizes all those who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and the resulting evil practices at the end of the church still existing, when they have heard and later hear about these two essential elements at the beginning of the New Church, namely, an acknowledgment of the Lord and of works in accordance with the Ten Commandments.

Peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations mean all those of the Protestant Reformed who were or who would be caught up in doctrinal falsities and the resulting evil practices owing to their faith alone. Peoples symbolize people caught up in doctrinal falsities (no. 483), tribes the falsities and evils in the church (no. 349), tongues a confession and acceptance of these (no. 483), and nations people caught up in evil practices (no. 483). Therefore the four together symbolize all those individually and collectively who were or who would be of such a character, thus all those who were in that great city and all those like them who would later come from the world.

The bodies that they would see, those of the two witnesses, symbolize the two essential elements of the New Church, as said in no. 501 above. That they would see them means, symbolically, when they have heard and later hear about them, since it is bodies that are said to be seen, and the two essential elements that are heard.

Three and a half days mean, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning, namely, at the end of the church still existing and the beginning of a new one.

Putting all these things together now into a single meaning, it is apparent that "those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their bodies for three and a half days" has, in the spiritual sense, the symbolic meaning stated above.

Three and a half days mean, symbolically, at the end and then the beginning because a day symbolizes a state, the number three symbolizes something completed to the end, and a half symbolizes a new beginning. For three and half days have the same symbolic meaning as a week, six days of which symbolize something completed to the end, and the seventh day something holy. That is because the number three and a half is one half of seven, and seven days constitute a week; and a number doubled or divided has the same symbolic meaning.

[2] That the number three symbolizes something completed, thus something completed to the end, can be seen from the following accounts in the Word:

That Isaiah was to go naked and barefoot for three years (Isaiah 20:3).

That Jehovah called three times to Samuel, and Samuel ran three times to Eli, and that the third time Eli understood (1 Samuel 3:1-8).

That Elijah stretched himself out three times on the widow's son (1 Kings 17:21).

That Elijah ordered that water be poured on the burnt sacrifice three times (1 Kings 18:34).

That Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal (Matthew 13:33).

That Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times (Matthew 26:34).

That the Lord asked Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" (John 21:15-17).

That Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).

That Jesus said He would destroy the Temple and in three days build it (Matthew 26:61, John 2:19)

That Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39-44).

That Jesus rose on the third day (Matthew 28:1ff.).

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 16:14; Hosea 6:2; Exodus 3:18; 10:22-23; 19:1, 11, 15-16, 18; Leviticus 19:23-25; Numbers 19:11-22; 31:19-24; Deuteronomy 19:2-4; 26:12; Joshua 1:11; 3:2; 1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19-20, 35-36, 41; 2 Samuel 24:11-13; Daniel 10:1-3; Mark 12:2, 4-6; Luke 20:12; 13:32-33.

Seven, like three, symbolizes something full and complete, but seven is predicated of holy things, while three is predicated of things not holy.

901. 21:13 Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. This symbolically means that concepts of truth and goodness which have in them spiritual life from the Lord out of heaven and introduce into the New Church are provided for people who possess more or less love or affection for goodness, and for people who possess more or less wisdom or affection for truth.

The gates now symbolize concepts of truth and goodness which have in them spiritual life from the Lord out of heaven, because over the gates were twelve angels with the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel written on them, and these symbolize this life in those concepts, as is apparent from the explanation just above in no. 900. That the gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness which introduce into the New Church may be seen in no. 899 above.

There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west, because the east symbolizes love and an affection for goodness in a higher degree, thus in greater measure, whereas the west symbolizes love and an affection for goodness in a lower degree, thus in lesser measure; and the south symbolizes wisdom and an affection for truth in a higher degree, thus in greater measure, whereas the north symbolizes wisdom and an affection for truth in a lower degree, thus in lesser measure. The east, west, south and north have these symbolic meanings because the Lord is the sun in the spiritual world, and east and west are determined by the direction He faces, with the south and north on either side - to His right the south, and to His left the north. Consequently people who possess love toward the Lord and its attending affection in a greater measure live in the east, and in a lesser measure in the west, while those who possess wisdom from an affection for truth in a greater measure live in the south, and in a lesser measure in the north.

That the dwellings of angels in heaven are arranged in this way may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell (London 1758), nos. 141-153.

There are three gates facing each of the cardinal points of the compass because the number three symbolizes all (nos. 400, 505).