2943. 'To all entering into the gate of his city, saying' means matters of doctrine through which one comes to faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a gate' as a place of entry and so as that which, in the same way as a door, leads in, dealt with in 2145, 2152, 2356, 2385, and from the meaning of 'a city' as truth, which constitutes faith, dealt with in 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712. In the Ancient Church a city was not like the city of later or of modern times. That is to say, a city did not consist of a collection or gathering together of individuals but of separate families living side by side. A family descended from the same forefather constituted a city. The city of Nahor, for example, to which Abraham's servant went to betroth Rebekah to Isaac, Genesis 24:10, consisted of the family of Nahor which was there. And Shalem, the city of Shechem, to which Jacob came after his departure from Paddan Aram, Genesis 33:18 and the whole of Chapter 34, consisted of the family of Hamor and Shechem which was there. And the same was so with all other cities in those times.

[2] And as it had come down to them from the most ancient people that nations and families represented heavenly communities, and so the things of love and charity, 685, 1159, therefore when a city is mentioned instead of a family, and a people instead of a nation, truth that constitutes faith is meant. It is also why in the genuine sense the city of God and the holy city mean faith in the Lord. And as 'a city' meant faith, 'the gate of the city' means matters of doctrine through which one comes to faith. The same was also meant in the Jewish representative Church by the judges and elders sitting in the gate of the city and giving judgement there, as is evident from historical sections of the Word, and also in Zechariah,

These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth, everyone to his companion; judge in your gates the truth and the judgement of peace. Zechariah 8:16.

And in Amos,

Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgement in the gate. Amos 5:15.

'A gate' also means the place of entry into the rational mind, and the rational mind is compared to a city, see 2851.

65. X. ON THE FORMER HEAVEN AND ITS ABOLITION.

We read in the book of Revelation:

I saw a mighty throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose sight earth and heaven fled, and their place was not found. Revelation 20:11.

And later:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Revelation 21:1.

I showed in the first chapter of this book and elsewhere in it that the new heaven and the new earth and the passing away of the former heaven and the former earth do not refer to the visible sky and the earth on which we live, but to the heaven of angels and the church. For the Word is in essence spiritual and therefore deals with spiritual matters, that is, those which have to do with heaven and the church. Natural things are used in the literal sense to stand for them, because what is natural serves what is spiritual for a base; and without such a base the Word would not be a work of God, because it would be incomplete. It is the natural, standing last in God's order, which completes and gives the interiors, which are spiritual and celestial, a base on which to rest, like a house on its foundations.

[2] Because people have thought about the contents of the Word from a natural instead of a spiritual point of view, they have taken heaven and earth in these and other passages to mean the sky in the natural world and the earth similarly. That is why everyone expects them to pass away and be destroyed, and new ones to be created. To prevent this expectation continuing for ever and being frustrated in each century, the spiritual sense of the Word has been opened up, so that the meaning of many expressions in the Word may be known, which cannot fall within our understanding as long as we think in a natural manner about them; and this includes the heaven and earth which will pass away.