487. 'Days means periods of time and states in general. This has been shown in Chapter 1, where the 'days of creation' have no other meaning. In the Word it is very common for a whole period of time to be called 'a day', as it clearly is in the present verse and in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31, below; and therefore the states that belong to periods of time in general are meant by 'days' as well. And when 'years' is attached, then periods of years mean the natures of those states, and so the states in particular.

[2] The most ancient people had their own particular numbers which they would use to mean different aspects of the Church - for instance, the numbers three, seven, ten, twelve, and many which they obtained from these and other numbers - and in so doing incorporated states of the Church. These numbers therefore contain arcana that would require considerable effort to unravel. Really a number was an evaluation of the states of the Church. The same feature occurs throughout the Word, especially in the prophetical. And the religious ceremonies of the Jewish Church also entail numbers specifying periods of time as well as quantities; for example, in connection with sacrifices, minchahs, oblations, and other practices, which in every case have special reference to holy things. Consequently eight hundred in this verse, nine hundred and thirty in the next, and the numbers of years mentioned in the verses that follow after that, embody in particular more matters than can possibly be retold; matters, that is to say, which have to do with changes in the state of their Church in relationship to their own general state. Later on, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the meaning of the simple numbers up to twelve will be given, for without knowing these first of all no one can grasp what compound numbers mean.

4328. I have also been shown the situation in general with regard to the will part of the mind and the understanding part. The most ancient people who constituted the Lord's celestial Church, and who are described in 1114-1123, had a will which contained good and an understanding which contained truth derived from that good; and with them these two parts made one. The ancients however who formed the Lord's spiritual Church had a will that was completely destroyed, but an intact understanding within which, through regeneration, the Lord formed a new area of will, and through this a new area of understanding also, see 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 1555, 2256.

[2] What the situation had been in the celestial Church so far as good was concerned was demonstrated by means of a blue-coloured column coming down from the sky, the left side of which was full of light, like the blazing light of the sun. This was a representation of the first state of those people, the blue colour representing their will, which was good, and the blazing light their understanding. After that the blue of the column turned to a dull red, which was a representation of their second state, a state in which their two kinds of life - that of the will and that of the understanding - still acted as one, though this was more dull so far as good from the will was concerned. For blue means good, and blazing light truth derived from good. After that the column became completely black, and surrounding the column there was a brightness which was variegated by means of something glittering and which presented colours. These changes meant the state of the spiritual Church. The black column meant that the will had been completely destroyed and that it was nothing but evil. The light variegated by something glittering meant the understanding in which a new will was provided by the Lord; for in heaven the understanding is represented by brightness.