863. 'Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made means a further state when the truths of faith appeared to him. This becomes clear from the final words of the previous verse, which state that 'the tops of the mountains appeared'. It becomes clear from the meaning of those words, and also from the meaning of 'a window', dealt with already in 655, as that which constitutes the understanding part of the mind, or what consequently amounts to the same, the truth of faith. It becomes clear too from the fact that this is the first glimmer of light. The same observation made already about that which constitutes the understanding part, namely the truth of faith, being meant by 'a window must be made here. It is this: No truth of faith can possibly exist unless it originates in good stemming from love or charity, just as nothing that truly constitutes the understanding exists unless it comes from the will. Take away the will and no understanding exists, as shown several times already. Take away charity therefore and no faith exists. But because man's will is nothing else than evil desire the Lord has miraculously taken steps to prevent that which constitutes the understanding part, which is the truth of faith, being immersed in his evil desire, and has separated the understanding part of man's mind from the will part by means of a certain go-between, namely conscience, to which charity is added by the Lord. Without this miraculous provision nobody could ever have been saved.

The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see if we consider the conflicts we tend to have between our "hearts" and our "heads" -- between what we want and what we know. Our "hearts" tell us that we want pie with ice cream for dinner; our "heads" tell us we should have grilled chicken and salad. If we can bring those two together and actually want what's good for us, we'll be pretty happy. We're built that way -- with our emotions balanced against our intellect -- because the Lord is built that way. His essence is love itself, or Divine Love, the source of all caring, emotion and energy. It is expressed as Divine Wisdom, which gives form to that love and puts it to work, and is the source of all knowledge and reasoning. In His case the two aspects are always in conjunction, always in harmony. It's easy also to see how that duality is reflected throughout creation: plants and animals, food and drink, silver and gold. Most importantly, it's reflected in the two genders, with women representing love and men representing wisdom. That's the underlying reason why conjunction in marriage is such a holy thing. So when "two" is used in the Bible to indicate some sort of pairing or unity, it means a joining together. In rare cases, however, "two" is used more purely as a number. In these cases it stands for a profane or unholy state that comes before a holy one. This is because "three" represents a state of holiness and completion (Jesus, for instance, rose from the tomb on the third day), and "two" represents the state just before it.