45. Truths of the literal meaning of the Word are meant by the precious stones in the Garden of Eden where the king of Tyre was said to live, according to Ezekiel.

We read in Ezekiel,

O king of Tyre, you had sealed your full measure and were full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering - ruby, topaz, and diamond; beryl, sardonyx, and jasper; sapphire, chrysoprase, and emerald; and gold. (Ezekiel 28:12-13)

Tyre in the Word means knowledge of what is true and what is good; a king means what is true in the church; the Garden of Eden means wisdom and understanding from the Word; precious stones mean truths from which light shines because they teach what is good - the kind we have in the literal meaning of the Word - and since this is what these stones mean, they are called its covering. On the literal meaning as the covering of the deeper levels of the Word, see under the preceding heading [§33; see also §40].

33. It follows from all this that without its literal meaning the Word would be like a palace without a foundation, like a castle in the air. The only thing on the ground would be its shadow, and shadows disappear. The Word without its literal meaning would be like a temple containing an abundance of holy objects, with a central inner sanctum, but without a roof or walls to contain them. If these were lacking or were taken away, its holy contents would be plundered by thieves or torn apart by the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven, and would therefore be scattered far and wide.

By the same token, it would be like the tabernacle’s inmost area, which housed the ark of the covenant, and its middle area, which housed the golden lampstand, the golden altar of incense, and the table with the showbread on it - all its holy contents - without the curtains and veils that surrounded them.

The Word without its literal meaning would be like a human body without the coverings called layers of skin and without the structural supports called bones. Lacking both of these, all the internal organs would spill out.

Then too, it would be like the heart and lungs in the chest without the covering called the pleura and the framework called the rib cage, or like the brain without its specific covering called the dura mater or its general covering, container, and support called the skull.

That is what the Word would be like without its literal meaning, which is why it says in Isaiah that Jehovah creates a covering over all glory (Isaiah 4:5).