2. Before speaking about the New Jerusalem and its teaching, I must say something about the new heaven and the new earth. In my short work THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON I showed what is meant by the first heaven and the first earth which had passed away. After they had passed away, that is, after the completion of the last judgment, a new heaven was created, that is, formed by the Lord. This heaven was formed from all those who, from the time of the Lord's coming down to the present, have lived a life of faith and charity, since these alone were in heaven's image. For the image of heaven, which determines all association and communication there, is an image of Divine truth arising from Divine good, coming forth from the Lord; and a person puts on this image in his spirit by living in accordance with Divine truth.

These facts enable us to know from whom the new heaven was made, and also its nature, as being totally of one mind. For anyone who lives a life of faith and charity loves another as himself, and he links the other to himself by love, so that the other loves him in turn. Love is a linking in the spiritual world; so when all act alike, then the association of many, or rather countless, people, in keeping with the form of heaven, brings about unanimity and they become as one. For there is nothing to separate and divide them, but everything links and unites them.

9487. Two cubits and a half the length thereof. That this signifies all in respect to good, is evident from the signification of “two and a half,” as being much, and what is full; and when spoken of the Divine, as being all. That “two and a half” denotes much, and what is full, is because this number signifies the like as five, ten, a hundred, and a thousand; for the double of two and a half is five, the double of five is ten, ten times ten is a hundred, and when numbers are doubled and multiplied they signify the like as the simple numbers of which they are compounded (see n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). (That the number “five” signifies much, and what is full, see n. 5708, 5956, 9102; in like manner “ten,” n. 3107, 4638; also “a hundred,” n. 2636, 4400; and “a thousand,” n. 2575, 8715.) Hence these numbers, when said of the Divine, denote all. And from the signification of “length,” as being good (n. 1613, 8898)

[2] That “length” in the Word signifies good, and “breadth” truth, may seem a paradox, but still it is so. It originates in the fact that each and all things in the Word signify such things as belong to heaven and the church, thus as bear relation to the good of love, and to the truth of faith. Nothing of space-such as implies length and breadth-can be predicated of these; but instead of space the state of being, which is the state of good, and from this the state of manifestation, which is the state of truth. Moreover, in heaven spaces are appearances arising from these states (n. 4882, 9440). From all this it can be seen that real things are signified by the measures and dimensions in Ezekiel 40:0-47:0, where the new temple and the new earth are treated of; consequently here also, where the ark, the Habitation, and the court, the tables therein, and the altars, are treated of; and in like manner in the description of the temple of Jerusalem; and again in that of the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, in that it was four-square, its length as great as its breadth (Revelation 21:16; and Zech. 2:1-2); for by “Jerusalem” is signified the New Church; and by its measurement as to length, the quality of its good; and as to breadth, the quality of its truth.

[3] That by “breadth” is signified truth, is very manifest in David:

In straitness I called upon Jah; He answereth me in breadth (Psalms 118:5).

Thou hast made my feet to stand in breadth (Psalms 31:8).

The stretching out of the wings of Asshur shall be the fullness of the breadth of the land (Isaiah 8:8).

I raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, that walketh in the breadths of the land (Hab. 1:6);

“to walk in the breadths of the land,” when said of the Chaldeans, denotes to destroy the truths of faith.

1613. In the length of it and in the breadth of it. That this signifies the celestial and the spiritual, or what is the same, good and truth [may be seen from the signification of “length” and “breadth”]. That “length” signifies good, and “breadth” truth, may be seen explained before (n. 650). The reason is that “the land” signifies the heavenly kingdom, or the church, of which no length and breadth can be predicated, but only those things which are applicable and correspondent, which are goods and truths. The celestial, or good, being primary, is compared to length; and the spiritual or truth, being secondary, is compared to breadth.

[2] That “breadth” is truth, appears plainly enough in the prophetic Word. As in Habakkuk:

I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and swift nation, that walketh in the breadths of the land (Hab. 1:6);

“the Chaldeans” denote those who are in falsity; “to walk in the breadths of the land,” denotes to destroy truths, for this is predicated of the Chaldeans.

In David:

O Jehovah, Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place (Psalms 31:8);

“to stand in a broad place,” denotes in truth. Again:

Out of straightness have I called upon Jah; Jah answered me in a broad place (Psalms 118:5);

“to answer in a broad place,” denotes in the truth.

In Hosea:

Jehovah will feed them as a lamb, in a broad place (Hos. 4:16);

“to feed in a broad place,” signifies to teach truth.

[3] In Isaiah:

Asshur shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and pass through, he shall reach even to the neck, and the stretchings out of his wings shall be the fullness of the breadth of thy land (Isaiah 8:8);

“Asshur” denotes reasoning, which will overflow the land, or the church; “the wings” denote the reasonings whence falsities arise; “the fullness of the breadth,” denotes that it is full of falsities, or things contrary to truth. Because the “length” of a land signifies good, and its “breadth” truth, the New Jerusalem is said to have been measured, and to lie foursquare, and its length to be as great as its breadth (Revelation 21:16), from which everyone can see that the length and the breadth signify nothing else, since the New Jerusalem is nothing else than the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and on earth. From the signification of things in the internal sense, modes of speaking concerning celestial and spiritual things by means of such things as are on earth, as by length and breadth, formerly became familiar; as the terms height and depth are used in common discourse at the present day, when predicated of wisdom.