558. And the voice of their wings was as the voice of the chariots of many horses running to battle, signifies reasonings seemingly from the truths of doctrine from the Word that are understood, and for which they must fight ardently. This is evident from the signification of "the voice of wings," as being reasonings (of which presently); also from the signification of "the voice of chariots," as being the doctrinals or truths of doctrine from the Word (of which also presently); also from the signification of "horses," as meaning the understanding of the Word (of which, n. 355, 364, 372, 373, 381, 382); also from the signification of "running to battle," as being the ardor in fighting, for "battle" signifies spiritual combat, and "to run" ardor for it. From this it can be seen that "the voice of their wings was as the voice of the chariots of many horses running to battle" signifies reasonings seemingly from the truths of the doctrine from the Word that are understood, and for which they must fight ardently. That this may be understood, it needs to be said that spiritual combats, which are combats for truths against falsities, are maintained from the Word, and are confirmed by a series of arguments and conclusions, whereby the enlightened mind is fully convinced; this therefore is what is signified by "the voice of their wings was as the voice of the chariots of many horses running to battle." The reasonings of the sensual man from falsities and in behalf of falsities appear quite similar in external form to the reasonings of the spiritual man, but in the internal form they are wholly unlike; for they have no series of arguments and conclusions, but merely persuasions from sensual knowledges [scientifica] with which the mind is infatuated but not convinced; of what quality these knowledges are will be told in the following article. (That "wings" signify spiritual truths, and therefore "the voice of wings" signifies discussions from them, consequently reasonings, and in the highest sense the Divine spiritual, which is Divine truth, may be seen above, n. 283; that "chariots" signify doctrinals or truths of doctrine, was shown above, n. 355, in treating of the signification of "horse," as meaning the understanding, and where the Word is treated of, as being the understanding of the Word.)

Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in life. This is why the people of Israel built altars of stone, and is also why stoning was a principal form of capital punishment (using truth to destroy falsity, or in the negative sense using falsity to destroy truth). It is also why precious stones are described in such detail on Aaron's breastplate and ephod, and also in the New Jerusalem in Revelation; precious stones represent true ideas directly from the Lord with the various colors showing various forms of love. Stones are not alone in representing truth, of course -- it sometimes seems that almost everything in the Bible represents either true ideas or desires for good. But that makes sense, since our thoughts and our desires together are everything we are in life, and the interplay between them is what life is all about. The many ways they are represented in the Bible reflect the incredible variety in our feelings and thoughts, though we can only distantly understand how those representations work. In the case of stones, in their weight, strength and permanence they tend to represent true ideas that come from a desire for good, the understanding we can have if we are truly good and loving -- and in the highest sense the exalted ideas that come from the Lord's love. Those ideas are ones that are not easily moved or changed, and make wonderful foundations for the things we want to build in our spiritual lives.