219. (Verse 12) He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. That this signifies that those who persevere will be in Divine truth in heaven is evident from the signification of overcoming, as denoting to persevere in the genuine affection of truth (concerning which see above, n. 128); in this case, in faith from charity, because that faith is treated of in what is written to the angel of this church (as may be seen above, n. 203); and from the signification of pillar, as denoting Divine truth sustaining; also from the signification of the temple of my God, as being, in the highest sense, the Divine Human of the Lord, and, in the relative sense, the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, thus the heaven constituting that kingdom, which will be treated of in what follows. The reason why a pillar in the temple denotes Divine truth sustaining, is that temple signifies heaven, and heaven is heaven from the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. For by heaven are meant all the angels, because these constitute heaven, whence it is called heaven; and they are angels in so far as they receive the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord: hence angels in the Word also signify Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 130, 200). Now because heaven is Divine truth, and since temple signifies heaven, it follows that all the things of the temple signify those things that belong to Divine truth, and that the pillars therein signify Divine truth sustaining.

Divine truths sustaining are, in general, truths of a lower degree, because these sustain those of a higher degree; for there are Divine truths lower and higher, as there are heavens lower and higher; thus there are degrees of the same (see in the work, Heaven and Hell 38, 208, 209, 211). The heavens which exist in a lower degree sustain those of a higher degree; here, therefore, by the Lord's making him that overcometh a pillar in the temple is signified that they will be in the lower heaven. Those who are in the faith of charity also are in the lower heaven, which is called the spiritual heaven; but those who are in love to the Lord are in the higher heaven, which is called the celestial heaven, and this is sustained by the lower or spiritual heaven. (How these things are, may be more clearly seen, as they are shown in three articles, in the work, Heaven and Hell, that is, in the article where it is shown that the Divine of the Lord in heaven is love to Him and charity towards the neighbour, n. 13-19; in another, where it is shown that heaven is distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual, n. 20-28; and in a third, where it is shown that there are three heavens, 29-40.)

[2] Pillars are mentioned in various parts of the Word, and thereby are signified truths of a lower degree, because they sustain those of a higher degree. That the former truths are signified in the Word by pillars is evident from the following passages. In Jeremiah:

"Behold, I have given thee this day for a defenced city, and for a pillar of iron, and for walls of brass against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes, and against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land, that they may fight against thee and not prevail" (1:18, 19).

These things were said to the prophet, because by all the prophets are signified the doctrines of Divine truth; and because the subject here treated of is the church in which Divine truths are falsified, it is therefore said: "Behold, I have given thee this day for a defenced city, and a pillar of iron and walls of brass against the whole land."

By a defenced city is signified the doctrine of truth; by a pillar of iron, truth sustaining it; by walls of brass, the good which defends; and by land, the church. It is said, also, "Against the kings of Judah, against the princes, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land"; and by the kings of Judah, and by princes, are signified truths falsified; by priests, goods adulterated; and by the people of the land, falsities in general; concerning which it is intimated that they should fight against truths but should not prevail.

[3] In the same:

"Appoint unto thee signs, place for thyself pillars, set thine heart to the narrow way; go the way; return, O virgin of Israel! return to thy cities" (31:21).

The restitution of the church is here treated of. The virgin of Israel signifies the church; to appoint signs, and to place pillars, signifies instruction in those things that are the fundamentals of the church, called pillars because they sustain; to set the heart to the narrow way signifies the affection of truth leading to life.

[4] In David:

"I will judge in uprightness the faint of the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof; I will establish the pillars thereof" (Psalms 75:2, 3).

Here, by the faint of the earth are signified those of the church who are not in truths, but who nevertheless desire them. To establish, or strengthen, the pillars of the earth signifies to support the church by those truths upon which it is founded. In Job:

"Who maketh the earth to tremble out of its place, so that the pillars thereof tremble" (Job 9:6).

By the earth is here signified the church, and by pillars the truths which sustain it. That by "the pillar of the court of the tent," mentioned in Exodus 27:10-12, 14-17, are also signified lower truths sustaining higher ones, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, in the explanation of that chapter and those verses. Similar truths are signified by the pillars of the house of the forest of Lebanon, built by Solomon, mentioned in 1 Kings 7:2, 6.

[5] Such also is the signification of the two pillars which Solomon erected in the porch of the temple, and which are thus described in the first book of Kings.

He "formed two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits did compass the second pillar about. And he made two crowns of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: seven for the one crown, and seven for the other crown. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz" (7:15-22).

Because the temple signified heaven, as will be shown presently, therefore all the things of the temple signified the things of heaven, thus those of the Divine truth; for, as said above, heaven is heaven from the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; its porch signified the things of the ultimate heaven, and because this sustains the two higher heavens, therefore those two pillars were placed in the porch.