69. (Verse 15) And his feet like unto burnished brass, as if they burned in a furnace. That this signifies the ultimate of Divine order which is the Natural, full of Divine love, is evident from the signification of feet, as being the Natural (concerning which seeArcana Coelestia 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952); when therefore it is said of the Lord, it denotes the ultimate of Divine order, because that is the Natural. It is also evident from the signification of burnished brass, or polished brass, as denoting natural good, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of burning, when said of the Lord, as denoting that it is from the Divine love (concerning which see n. 10055). It is said, as if they burned in a furnace, in order that the Divine love may be expressed in the greatest degree, and in its fullness; for the Divine is in its fulness when it is in its ultimate, and the ultimate is the Natural (as may be seen above, n. 66). It is clear then, that by His feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, is signified the ultimate of Divine order, which is the Natural, full of Divine love. These things, as also those that precede, are spoken comparatively; as that His head and His hairs were white as white wool, as snow, and that His feet were like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; but it is to be observed, that all comparisons in the Word are significative, because in the same way as the things themselves, they are from correspondences (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 3579, 4599, 8989).

[2] The reason why feet, when said of the Lord, signify the ultimate of Divine order, and that this is the Natural, is, that heaven is heaven from the Divine Human of the Lord, and that therefore heaven in the aggregate has reference to one Man. And, because there are three heavens, that the highest heaven has reference to the head, the middle heaven to the body, and the ultimate heaven to the feet. The Divine which constitutes the highest heaven is called the celestial Divine; that which constitutes the middle heaven is called the spiritual Divine, and that which constitutes the ultimate heaven is called the natural Divine from the spiritual and celestial. It is therefore clear why the Lord is in this place described as to His Divine Human, which is the Son of man, seen in the midst of the lampstands, not only as to His garments, but also as to His head, His chest and feet. (That the Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human, may be seen above, n. 63; and that the lampstands denote heaven, may be seen n. 62. But as these things are arcana hitherto unknown in the world, and nevertheless ought to be understood in order that the internal sense of this and the following parts of this prophetical book may be comprehended, they are therefore particularly and specifically described in the work, Heaven and Hell; as, that the Divine Human of the Lord constitutes heaven, n. 7-12, 78-86; that hence heaven in the aggregate has reference to one Man, n. 59-77; that there are three heavens, and that the highest refers to the head, the middle to the body, and the ultimate to the feet, n. 29-40.)

When these things are understood, it will be evident that by the feet of Jehovah, or of the Lord, in the Word, is signified the ultimate of Divine order, or the Natural; and because the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word, is the ultimate of Divine order in the church, and is the Natural, therefore this is specifically signified by the feet of Jehovah, or of the Lord.

[3] It was for this reason that, when the Lord was seen as an angel by the prophets, in other places, He was seen by them also in a similar manner. Thus by Daniel:

"I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; his body also was like the beryl, and his eyes as torches of fire; his arms and his feet as the brightness of polished brass" (10:5, 6).

Similarly, the cherubs, which mean the Lord as to providence and protection (see Arcana Coelestia 9277, 9509, 9673), were seen by Ezekiel:

"Their feet sparkled as the brightness of polished brass" (1:7).

So also the Lord was afterwards seen as an angel, in the Apocalypse:

"I saw an angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was about his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire" (10:1).

Because the Lord was thus seen as to the feet, therefore under the feet was seen, by some of the sons of Israel,

"as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as the substance of heaven in purity" (Exodus 24:10).

The reason why the Lord was not seen by them as to the feet, but under the feet, was, that they were not in the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word, but under it (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248). Since the feet of Jehovah, or the Lord, signify the ultimate of Divine order, and this is specifically the external of the church, of worship, and of the Word, therefore this is called His footstool in the Word, as in Isaiah:

"The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; I will make the place of my feet honourable. And they shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet" (60:13, 14).

Again:

"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool" (66:1).

In Jeremiah:

God "doth not remember his footstool in the day of anger" (Lamentations 2:1).

And in David:

"Adore ye Jehovah, towards his footstool" (Psalms 99:5).

Again:

"We will go into his habitation; we will bow ourselves at his footstool" (Psalms 132:7).

And in Nahum:

"The clouds of Jehovah are the dust of his feet" (Nahum 1:3).

That cloud denotes the external of the Word, or the Word as to the letter, may be seen above, n. 36; and because cloud denotes the external of the Word, it also denotes the external of the church and of worship, for the church and worship are from the Word. It is said the dust of His feet, because those things which are in the sense of the letter of the Word, which sense is natural, appear scattered.

8989. 'And shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost' means a state in which strengthened and implanted truth [communicates] with spiritual good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the door' as the means by which truth is introduced into good, dealt with in 2356, 2385, at this point strengthened and implanted truth, meant by a Hebrew slave after servitude lasting six years, 8976, 8984, and since 'the door' is the means of introduction it is also the means of communication (for a door is the means by which one room communicates with another); and from the meaning of 'the doorpost' as that truth linked to good, since a doorpost stands between two rooms, linking one to the other. For the meaning of 'the doorpost' as the truth of the natural, see 7847. Who can fail to see that this symbolic act carried out when slaves stayed on contains an arcanum, indeed a Divine one? For Jehovah declared and commanded it from Mount Sinai. People who do not think there is anything holier and more Divine in the Word than that which is seen in the letter must be astonished that these and many more things contained in the present and following chapters were declared vocally by Jehovih. For in the letter they appear to be simply the kinds of matters that nations' civil laws deal with, as is the case with this law regarding slaves, which decrees that any of them who does not wish to go out of servitude should be brought to the door or to the doorpost, where his master should pierce his ear with an awl. In the sense of the letter this does not savour of what comes from God; even so, it is utterly Divine. But this is not evident unless made so by the internal sense. The internal sense is that those imbued with truths alone and not with complementary good, yet nevertheless with the delight in remembering forms of spiritual good, 8986, 8987, have some communication and link with spiritual good.

[2] This was represented by the law that the slave's ear should be pierced at the door or at the doorpost by his master; for the door is the means of communication, the doorpost is that which serves to link, the ear is obedience, and piercing it with an awl is a representative sign of the state in which he is to stay on. This is how these details are perceived by the angels present with a person who reads this command. The angels do not think of a door, of a doorpost, of an ear and the piercing of it, nor even of a slave, but instead they think of the communication and linking together mentioned above. For the understanding which angels have is of the latter kind of things, because they are in the light. And none except spiritual and heavenly matters occur to them, not natural and worldly ones such as the literal sense of the Word contains; for the literal sense of the Word is natural and worldly, whereas its internal sense is spiritual and heavenly. The former exists for men, the latter for angels; consequently the Word is the means through which heaven has communication with and is linked to mankind.

[3] To bring further out into the open the arcana contained in this procedure followed in the case of slaves staying on with their master, something must be said about why it is that 'the door' and 'the doorpost' mean the means of communication and of linking together. Angels and spirits possess dwelling-places, which are in appearance exactly like those in the world, 1116, 1626-1628, 1631, 4622. And - what is an arcanum - every single thing that appears in their dwelling-places is a sign of something spiritual; it also arises out of spiritual things which exist in heaven, and which are therefore present in their minds. Communication between truth and good is presented visually there as a door, and the linking together of them as a doorpost; and other things are presented as the actual rooms, porches, windows, and different kinds of adornment. Nobody at the present day, least of all one who is merely natural, is able to believe that these things are so, because they are not evident to people's physical senses; and yet it is clear from the Word that such things were seen by prophets when their inner eyes were opened to see into heaven. I too have discerned and seen the same things a thousand times. I have also on many occasions heard them say, when their thoughts were being communicated to me, that the doors of their rooms were open, or when they were not being communicated, that their doors were shut.

[4] This explains why 'doors' are mentioned in the Word in places where communication is the subject, as in Isaiah,

Go away, my people, enter your bed chambers, and shut your door behind you. Hide yourself, so to speak, for a little moment, until the anger passes over. Isaiah 26:20.

'Shutting the door behind oneself, until the anger passes over' stands for having no contact with evils, which are 'the anger', 3614, 5034, 5798, 6358, 6359, 6997, 8284, 8483. In Malachi,

Will He accept you favourably? ¹ said Jehovah Zebaoth. Who even among you would rather shut the doors, and not kindle a light on My altar in vain? Malachi 1:9-10.

'Shutting doors' stands for not communicating with sacred or Divine things. In Zechariah,

Open your doors. O Lebanon, that fire may consume your cedars. Zechariah 11:1.

'Opening doors' stands for providing access or communication.

[5] In David,

He commanded the skies from above, He threw open the doors of the heavens. Psalms 78:23.

'Throwing open the doors of the heavens' stands for providing communication with the truths and forms of good which come from the Lord in the heavens. In the same author,

I have chosen to stand at the door in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10.

'Standing at the door' stands for communicating from the outside with good, which is 'the house of God', 3720. In the same author,

Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, ² so that the King of glory may come in. Psalms 24:7, 9.

'Ancient doors being lifted up' stands for opening and raising hearts to the Lord, who is 'the King of glory', and so providing communication, that is, enabling Him to flow in with the good of charity and the truth of faith. The Lord is called 'the King of glory', by virtue of the truth that radiates from good.

[6] In Isaiah,

Jehovah said to His anointed, to Cyrus - whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him, in order that I may ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him, and gates may not be shut - I will go before you and make straight the crooked places. And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and the secret wealth of concealed places, that you may know that it is I, Jehovah, who called you by your name, the God of Israel. Isaiah 45:1-3.

This refers to the Lord in respect of His Human, He being 'Cyrus' in the representative sense. 'Opening doors before him' is providing access to the Divine itself, which is why even in respect of His Human He is called 'God', in this instance 'the God of Israel'

[7] In John,

Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one can shut; for you have a little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Revelation 3:8.

'Setting an open door' stands for communication with heaven. In the same book,

After these things I saw, and behold, an open door in heaven. I heard, Come up here, in order that I may show you things which must take place after this. Revelation 4:1.

'A door' there plainly stands for communication, since a revelation which he was going to receive from heaven is the subject. From this it is also evident that communication is represented in heaven by a door, as stated above In the same book,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20.

Here also 'the door' plainly stands for access to and communication with heaven where the Lord is, thus with the Lord.

[8] Similarly in Matthew,

The bridegroom came, and the virgins went in to the wedding feast and the door was shut. Eventually the remaining virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He replying said, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Matthew 25:10-12.

What these words mean in the internal sense, see 4635-4638, where it is shown that 'virgins' are those within the Church. 'Having oil in their lamps' refers to those who have the good of charity within the truths of faith, and 'not having oil in their lamps' to those who have the truths of faith and not the good of charity in them. The door is said to be shut to the latter because they do not communicate with heaven, that is, through heaven with the Lord. Communication with heaven and through heaven takes place through the good of charity and love, but not through truths that are called the truths of faith devoid of good within them. This is why the latter are called 'foolish virgins', while the former are called 'wise virgins'.

[9] In Luke,

Many will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the Householder has risen up and shut the door, then you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He replying will say to you, I do not know where you come from. Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; and You taught in our streets. But He will say to you, I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity! Luke 13:24-27.

Here also 'the door' plainly stands for access and communication, as above. Those to whom the door is shut and who knock on it but are not let in are people imbued with the truths of faith received from the Word but not with the good of charity. All this is meant by their eating with the Lord and drinking, and by their hearing the Lord teaching in their streets, when yet they do not live the life of faith, for 'workers of iniquity' are those who do not live that life.

[10] In John,

Truly, truly I say to you, He who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me he will be saved. John 10:1-2, 9.

'Entering by the door' means passing through the truth of faith to the good of charity and love, thus to the Lord. For the Lord is Goodness itself, and the Truth that introduces too, thus also the door; for faith is received from Him.

[11] The use of 'the door' to mean the means of communication seems to be a metaphorical way of speaking, or a comparison. But in the Word they are not metaphors or comparisons; rather they are real correspondences. Even the comparisons made there involve the use of such things as are correspondential, as becomes clear from what has been stated regarding a door, namely that actual doors appear in heaven where angels and spirits reside, opening or shutting in accord with states of communication. So also with every other comparison.

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