327. Saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. That this signifies that the Lord from His Divine Human has Omnipotence and Omniscience, is evident from all that has preceded: for the subject hitherto treated of is that the Lord from His Divine Human has Omnipotence and Omniscience, and that thence judgment belongs to Him. That this is meant by, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof," is evident from the series of the things explained from the beginning of this chapter to the present verse, which I desire to cite in order, namely, that by, "I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne," is signified the Lord as to Omnipotence and Omniscience, n. 297; by "a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals," is signified the state of the life of all in heaven and in the earth altogether hidden, n. 299, 300; by, "I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" is signified exploration, whether there is any such as know and perceive the state of the life of all, (n. 302, 303; by "no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book," is signified that no one [could] in the least from himself, n. 304; by, "Behold! the lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof," is signified that the Lord from His own power subdued the hells, and reduced all things in the heavens to order, and this by Divine good united to Divine truth in His Human, (n. 309, 310; by, "I saw a lamb having seven horns, and seven eyes," is signified the Lord as to the Divine Human, [and] that from it He has Omnipotence and Omniscience, n. 314, 316, 317; and by, "He came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne," is signified that those things are from His Divine Human, n. 319. Hence it is now clear, that here by, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to loose the seals thereof," is signified that the Lord from the Divine Human has Omnipotence and Omniscience.

9216. 'In which he may sleep' means resting on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'sleeping' as resting, in this instance on the external and sensory level, meant by 'clothing', 9212; for it says that it is clothing 'in which he may sleep'. How the explanation that more internal things find rest on the sensory level should be understood must be stated. The sensory level is the last and lowest of a person's life, as has been shown above. What is lowest contains all the more internal levels and is general to them all; for they terminate in it and accordingly rest on it. It is like the skin, for example, which is the outermost covering of the body. The body and all things in it terminate in the skin, because it contains them and they accordingly rest on the skin. In a similar way it is like the peritoneum within the body. Because it contains the abdominal organs, these rest on it and are also linked to it all round. Or equally it is like the pleura's relationship to the organs in the chest.

[2] A similar situation exists with all the things that compose a person's actual life, with those for instance that are connected with his understanding and those that are connected with his will. These too follow one another in order from more internal things to relatively external ones. The relatively external ones are factual knowledge together with its delights, while the outermost things are those of the senses, which are in contact with the world through sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. The more internal things rest on them since they terminate in them. These are the matters that are meant in the spiritual sense by 'the covering' or 'the clothing in which he may sleep'. The reason why things on the level of the senses are meant by 'the clothing' or 'the covering' lies in correspondences; for as stated above in 9212, spirits and angels appear dressed in garments in keeping with their truths of faith. Those governed by truths springing from good appear in shining ones, as for instance those at the Lord's tomb did, Luke 24:4; Matthew 28:3, and also in ones of fine, white linen, as for instance those referred to in Revelation 19:14 did; and others appear in garments of various colours.

[3] Furthermore it should be realized that all things without exception proceed in successive stages from their first or inmost level to their terminations on the last and lowest and rest on them. Each thing at a prior or more internal stage in order has its own connection with terminations on the lowest level. Therefore if things on the lowest level are dispelled those on interior levels are also scattered. This also explains why there are three heavens. The inmost or third heaven flows into the middle or second heaven; the middle or second heaven flows into the first or lowest heaven, which in turn flows into and resides with mankind. Consequently the human race constitutes the lowest level of order; in it heaven terminates and on it heaven rests. This being so, the Lord in His Divine [Love and Care] always provides for the presence among the human race of a Church in which truth revealed by God exists; such truth on our planet is the Word. By means of this a continuous link exists between the human race and the heavens. This is why every detail of the Word has within it an internal sense which exists for heaven's benefit and whose nature is such that it joins angels' minds to those of people on earth in so firm a bond that they act as one. All this goes to show yet again the nature of a situation in which interior things rest on those at the lowest level.