2. Before the New Jerusalem and its doctrine are treated of, something shall be said of the New Heaven and the New Earth. What is meant by "the first heaven and the first earth," which passed away, is shown in the small work Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed. Immediately after that event, that is, after the Last Judgment was completed, a New Heaven was created or formed by the Lord. This heaven was formed of all those who, from the coming of the Lord to the present time, had lived the life of faith and charity, since these alone were forms of heaven. For the form of heaven, according to which all consociations and communications therein are effected, is the form of the Divine truth from the Divine good proceeding from the Lord; and this form man as to his spirit acquires by a life according to the Divine truth. That the form of heaven is thence may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 200-212), and that all the angels are forms of heaven (n. 51-58, and 73-77). From these things it may be known, who they are of whom the New Heaven consists; and thereby what its quality is, namely, that it is altogether unanimous. For he who lives the life of faith and charity, loves another as himself, and by love conjoins him to himself, and thus reciprocally and mutually; for in the spiritual world, love is conjunction. Wherefore, when all act thus, then from many, yea from innumerable individuals consociated according to the form of heaven, unanimity exists, and they become as one; for then nothing separates and divides, but everything conjoins and unites.
Revelation 21:12-24
12
And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13
On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16
And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17
And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
18
And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19
And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
20
The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
23
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Arcana Coelestia #8877
8877. 'On the third and on the fourth [generations]' means in a long sequence, and joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'three' as what is complete from start to finish, dealt with in 2788, 4495, 7715, thus a long sequence, so that 'the third [generation on sons' is falsities in a long sequence (for the meaning of 'sons' as falsities, see immediately above in 8876); and from the meaning of 'four', like two, as joined together, dealt with in 1686, 5194, 8423, so that 'the third and the fourth [generations of] sons' are falsities joined together in a long sequence. This explanation of 'the third and the fourth [generations of] sons' must inevitably seem to be nonsensical or foreign to the meaning of the Word; but it should be remembered that in the internal sense numbers do not mean numbers but real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175.
