488. As has been stated, 'days' means states in general, and 'years' states in particular. This too becomes clear from the Word, as in Ezekiel,

You have brought your days near, and you have come even to your years. Ezekiel 22:4.

This refers to people who behave abominably and sin to the fullest extent, and so 'days' has reference in this case to such people's state in general, 'years' to that state in particular.

In David,

You will add days to the king's days; and his years as generation after generation! Psalms 61:6.

This refers to the Lord and His kingdom, where again 'days' and 'years' stand for the state of His kingdom.

In the same author,

I have considered the days of old, the years of long ago. Psalms 77:5.

Here 'days of old' is states of the Most Ancient Church, and 'years of long ago' states of the Ancient Church. In Isaiah,

The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. Isaiah 63:4.

This stands for the final times, where 'the day of vengeance' stands for a state of condemnation, and 'the year of the redeemed' for a state of blessedness.

Similarly, in the same prophet,

To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.

Here again 'days' and also 'years' are mentioned and mean states.

In Jeremiah,

Renew our days as of old. Lamentations 5:21.

Here 'days' plainly stands for state.

[2] In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a tiny of cloud and gloom, as has never happened of old, nor will be again after it through the years of generation after generation. Joel 2:1-2, 11.

Here 'day' stands for a state of darkness, thick darkness, cloud and gloom - a state of individuals in particular and of all in general.

In Zechariah,

I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. On that day you will shout, each to his companion, under his vine and under his fig tree. Zechariah 3:9-10.

And elsewhere in Zechariah,

There will be one tiny, it is known to Jehovah, which is neither day nor night, and at evening time there will be light. Zechariah 14:7.

State is clearly meant here, for it is said that 'it will be a day, which is neither day nor night; at evening time there will be light'.

The same meaning is also clear from the following in the Decalogue,

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with you in the land. Deuteronomy 5:16; 25:15.

Here 'a prolonging of days' does not mean living on into old age but a state that is happy.

[3] In the sense of the letter 'day' cannot be seen to mean anything other than a period of time, but in the internal sense it means a state. Angels, who abide in the internal sense of the Word, do not know what a period of time is, for the activity of the sun and moon with them does not produce divisions of time. As a consequence they do not know what a day or a year is, but only what states and changes of state are. This is why among angels, who abide in the internal sense of the Word, anything connected with matter, space, and time, goes unnoticed, as with the following usages in the sense of the letter in Ezekiel,

The day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud; it will be a time of the nations. Ezekiel 30:3.

And in Joel,

Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction. Joel 1:15.

Here 'a day of cloud' stands for cloud or falsity, 'a day of the nations' for the nations or wickedness, and 'the day of Jehovah' for vastation. When the concept of time is removed there remains the concept of the state of the things existing during that period of time. The same applies to the days and the years that are mentioned so many times in this chapter.

260. (Verse 1) After these things I saw. That this signifies the understanding enlightened is evident from the signification of seeing, as being to understand. The reason of this is that the sight of the eye corresponds to the sight of the mind, which is the understanding. This correspondence is based on the fact that the understanding perceives spiritual things, and the sight of the eye natural things; spiritual things are truths from good and natural things are objects in various forms. Truths from good, which are spiritual things, are seen in heaven as clearly as objects before the eye, but still with much difference, for those truths are seen intellectually, that is, are perceived. The nature of this sight, or perception, cannot be described in human language; it can be comprehended only by this, that it includes consent and confirmation from an inmost principle that the thing is so. For there are confirmatory reasons in very great abundance, which present themselves as one to the intellectual sight, and this one is as a conclusion from many. These confirmatory reasons are in the light of heaven, which is Divine truth, or Divine wisdom, proceeding from the Lord, and which operates in each angel according to the state of his reception; this is spiritual sight, or understanding.

[2] Because this sight operates into the sight of the eyes with the angels, and presents the truths of the understanding in correspondent forms, which in heaven appear not unlike the forms in the natural world which are called objects, therefore by seeing, in the literal sense of the Word, is signified to understand. (What the nature of appearances in heaven is, and that they correspond to the objects of the interior sight of the angels, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 170-176.) The reason why in the Word it is not said to understand, but to see, is that the Word in its ultimates is natural, and what is natural is the basis on which spiritual things are founded; therefore, if the Word in the letter were also spiritual it would have no basis, thus it would be as a house without a foundation (concerning this subject also, see in the work, Heaven and Hell 303-310). That in the Word to see signifies to understand is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Who have said to the seers, See not, and to those who have vision, See not for us right things; speak to us blandishments, see illusions" (30:10).

Again:

"And the eyes of them that see shall not blink, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken" (32:3).

Again:

Ye blind, look in seeing, in seeing . . . great things, ye do not keep them" (42:18, 20).

Again:

"The priest and the prophet err through strong drink they err among the seeing, they stumble in judgment" (28:7), and elsewhere;

"Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not" (Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:12; 8:17, 18; Isaiah 6:10; Ezekiel 12:2).

Besides many other passages, which need not be adduced here since everyone knows, from the customary modes of expression, that to see signifies to understand; hence we say, I see this, that it is, or is not so, meaning I understand.

[260 ½] And, behold, a door opened in heaven. That this signifies the arcana of heaven revealed, is evident from the signification of a door, as being introduction, concerning which see above (n. 208); in this case, looking into which is a letting-in of the sight; and the sight is let into heaven when the sight of the bodily eyes is made dim, and then the sight of the eyes of the spirit is enlightened; by the latter sight all the visions of the prophets were seen. The reason why a door opened in heaven here signifies the arcana of heaven revealed is that those things then appear which are in the heavens, and, before the prophets, those which are arcana of the church. In the present case were seen the arcana concerning those things that were to exist about the time of the Last Judgment, none of which have been as yet revealed, nor could they be revealed before the Judgment was accomplished, and not even then except by means of some one in the world to whom it should be granted by the Lord to see them, and to whom, at the same time, should be revealed the spiritual sense of the Word. For all the things written in this prophetical book are written concerning the Last Judgment, but by means of representatives and correspondences; for whatever is said by the Lord and perceived by the angels is turned into representatives when it descends, and is thus presented both before the eyes of the angels in the ultimate heavens, and before men who were prophets, when the eyes of their spirit were opened. From these considerations it is evident what is meant by a door opened in heaven.