25. 'Spreading out the earth and stretching out the heavens' is a common expression in the Prophets when the subject is man's regeneration, as in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens Alone, and who spreads out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

Also, when it is speaking of the Lord's Coming,

A bruised reed He does not break off and a smoking wick He does not quench; He brings forth judgement towards truth; that is, He neither shatters man's illusions nor stifles his desires. Instead He bends them towards truth and good. This verse in Isaiah continues,

The God Jehovah creates the heavens and stretches them out: He spreads out the earth and what comes from it: He gives breath ¹ to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:3-5.

Such phrases recur several times elsewhere.

Notas a pie de página:

268. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders. (5:6) This symbolically means from the inmost elements of heaven, the Word, and the church, and so in all their constituents.

"In the midst" means, symbolically, in inmost elements and so in all (no. 44). The throne symbolizes heaven (no. 14). The four living creatures or cherubim symbolize the Word (no. 239). And the twenty-four elders symbolize the church in respect to all its constituents (no. 233, 251). It follows from this that the statement, "in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders," means, symbolically, from the inmost elements in all the constituents of heaven, the Word, and the church.