62. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, signifies a new heaven and a new church, which are in the good of love. This is evident from the signification of "having turned to see," as being to understand from illustration (See just before, n. 61); and from the signification of "seven," as being what is full and all, and as being predicated where the holy things of heaven and the church are treated of (See above, n. 20, 24); and from the signification of "lampstands," as being the new heaven and the new church (as will be seen in what follows); and from the signification of "gold," as being the good of love (See Arcana Coelestia 113, 1551-1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881). That "seven lampstands" signify heaven and the church is evident from the last verse of this chapter, where it is said, "The seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches." That "the seven churches" signify all who are of the church of the Lord, thus the church in general, may be seen above n. 20; they also signify heaven, because heaven and the church make one; moreover, those that have the church in them have heaven in them; for the reason that the good of love and of faith makes the church with man, and makes heaven with him, as it does with angels; consequently, those that had the church, that is, the goods and truths of the church, in them in the world, come into heaven after death. (That this is so, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 12; and in the work on Heaven and Hell, (Heaven and Hell 57, 221-227). The "seven lampstands" here mean the new heaven and the new church, for these are treated of at the end of Revelation (See chapter 21), and thus the conclusion of all things therein; and because that which is last is also first, the prediction respecting these is presented at the beginning. Moreover, it is also customary in the Word to mention in the beginning things that are to take place at the end, because intermediates are thus included; for, in the spiritual sense, the first is the end for the sake of which, as that is both first and last, and to it all other things look (See in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 98).

[2] That "lampstand" signifies heaven and the church is evident from the description of the lampstand which was in the tabernacle, for by the tabernacle the whole heaven in the complex was represented; and by the lampstand therein, the spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven (See Arcana Coelestia n. 3478, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9548-9577, 9783). That this is so is clearly evident from John's seeing "in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man;" "the Son of man" is the Lord in respect to His Divine Human, from which is Divine truth, which is the All in all things of heaven and the church. In the spiritual heaven also lampstands appear in much magnificence; by these that heaven is represented. These it has been given me to see. From this it can be seen what is meant in the Word, in the spiritual sense, by "lampstands" and by "lamps," in the following passages. In Revelation:

I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent (Revelation 2:5).

"To remove thy lampstand" is to take away from them heaven or the church. In Zechariah:

The angel said to the prophet, What seest thou? And I said, I have seen, and behold a lampstand all of gold, its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon, with seven pipes to the lamps (Zechariah 4:2, 3).

Here Zerubbabel is treated of, who was to lay the foundation of the house of God, and to finish it. By Zerubbabel is represented the Lord, that He was about to come and restore heaven and the church: these are the "lampstands" and the holy truths there are "the seven lamps."

[3] Because a lampstand takes its representative meaning from the lamps, and the lamps from light, which in heaven is Divine truth, so the Lord is also called "a lamp," as in Revelation:

The holy Jerusalem hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; the glory of God shall lighten ¹ it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Revelation 21:23; 22:5).

From this also it is that David, and the kings after him, are called:

Lamps of Israel (2 Samuel 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19);

for the Lord in respect to His royalty was represented by David, likewise by the kings of Judah and Israel. (For the representation by "David," see Arcana Coelestia 1888, 9954; and by "kings," n. 31, above.) The lampstands that were seen were of gold; because "gold" signifies the good of love, and all that proceeds from the Lord is from Divine love; consequently the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is love to Him and love towards the neighbor, which is charity (as may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 13-19). This is why the lampstand here, as well as the lampstand in the tabernacle, was of gold.

Bilješke:

76. Verse 17. And when I saw Him, signifies the presence of the Divine majesty. This is evident from the things that precede relating to the Son of man, all of which are of the Divine majesty, as is clear from the explanation of them in the internal sense; as that "He was clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle," signifying that Divine truth and Divine good proceed from Him; that "His head and His hairs were white as white wool, as snow," signifying the Divine in firsts and in ultimates; that "His feet were like unto burnished brass, as if glowing in a furnace," signifying that His Human, even in ultimates, is full of Divine love; that "His voice was as the voice of many waters," signifying that all Divine truth is from Him; that "He had in His right hand seven stars," signifying that all goods and truths of heaven and the church are therefrom; that "out of His mouth a sharp two-edged sword went forth," signifying that by Him all falsities are dispersed; that "His face was as the sun shineth in his power," signifying that from His Divine love were all things of heaven. It is clear that these things are Divine, and that they appeared full of Divine majesty. That to "see" signifies here the presence, now most interior, of these things, is evident from this, that it was also said before that John saw them (verse 12), and according to that seeing also they were described; and now again it is said "I saw Him," and on account of this seeing he fell at His feet as dead; therefore it is that by "seeing" is here signified the presence of the Divine majesty. This presence came to John, when he saw "His face as the sun in his power," for from this he was illustrated and filled with awe, in the presence of the Divine; for all Divine light is from the Lord as a sun, and Divine light passes into the interiors; from this comes such presence and such filling with awe (as can be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, on the Lord as a Sun, n. 116-125; on Light and Heat therefrom in Heaven, n. 126-140; and on Turning to Him, n. 17, 123, 144, 145, 151, 255, 272, 510, 548, 561). It is to be known, moreover, that man has two kinds of sight, one from cogitative faith, the other from love: when he has sight from cogitative faith only, his sight is unattended with awe before the Lord's Divine majesty; but when this sight is from love, it is attended with awe at the Divine majesty; this is because man is then turned to the Lord, for love turns him, but cogitative faith apart from love does not (as can be seen from the passages cited above from the work on Heaven and Hell, about turning). That this is so is well known in the spiritual world. It is clear, therefore, that by "I saw him," stated a second time, is signified the presence of the Divine majesty.