955. 22:17 And the spirit and the bride say, "Come!" This symbolically means that heaven and the church long for the Lord's advent.

The spirit symbolizes heaven, the bride symbolizes the church, and saying "Come!" symbolizes a longing for the Lord's advent. It is clear from chapter 21:2, 21:9-10 that the church meant by the bride is the New Church, the Holy Jerusalem, as may be seen in nos. 881, 895. And the spirit means heaven because angelic spirits are meant, of whom the New Heaven consists, as symbolized in chapters 14:1-7; 19:1-9; 20:4-5.

The church, here called the bride, does not mean a church composed of people whose faith consists of falsities, but a church composed of people whose faith consists of truths, for it is the latter who long for light, thus who long for the Lord's advent. See no. 954 above.