When 'islands' are contrasted to 'earth' or 'mountains,' they signify the truths of faith, because they are in the sea. They signify doctrinal things which are rituals. 'Islands' signify peoples who are more remote from the worship of God. People who are steeped in the internal sense of the Word, such as angels, do not know what islands are, because they no longer have any concept of such places. Instead they have a perception of more remote worship, like the gentiles outside the church.

'Islands,' in Ezekiel 27:6, signify people in the church in a natural, materially-oriented state but still rational.

(참조: Apocalypse Explained 406; Isaiah 1, Isaiah 49, 49:1)

607. 13:18 Here is wisdom. This symbolically means that from what we have said and explained in this chapter, it is the part of a wise person to see and understand the nature of the doctrine and faith among the clergy regarding God and salvation.

"Here," the verse says, because it means those things that we have said and explained in this chapter, particularly about the beast from the earth, which symbolizes the doctrine and consequent faith regarding God and salvation among the clergy (no. 594). For what this verse says has to do with that beast. And because it is the part of a wise person, or of wisdom, to see and understand the nature of that doctrine and consequent faith, the verse says, "Here is wisdom."