903. And on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. This symbolizes all of the doctrines from the Word regarding the Lord and living in accordance with His commandments.

The foundations had the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb written on them because the twelve apostles symbolize the Lord's church and everything connected with it (nos. 79, 233, 790), in this case the church in respect to all of its doctrines, because their names were written on the twelve foundations, which symbolize all of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem (no. 902). The twelve names symbolize its whole character, and its whole character has to do with two elements in the doctrine and so in that church: the Lord and living in accordance with His commandments. Therefore these are what are symbolized.

All of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem relate to these two elements, because they are its universal tenets on which all of its particular ones depend, and they are the essential elements from which all of its outward expressions originate. Therefore they are, as it were, the soul and life in all of its doctrines.

They are, indeed, two elements, but one cannot be divorced from the other. For to divorce them would be like divorcing the Lord from mankind, or mankind from the Lord, and in that case there would be no church.

These two elements are joined together like the two tables of the Ten Commandments, one of which contains commandments having to do with the Lord, and the other commandments having to do with people. There they are called a covenant, and a covenant symbolizes conjunction.

Think what the case would be with the tables of the Ten Commandments if only the first were to remain and the second were to be snatched away. Or if the second were to remain and the first were to be snatched away. Would it not be as though God did not see mankind, or as though mankind did not see God? Or as though one abandoned the other?

We say this to make it known that everything connected with the doctrine of the New Jerusalem relates to love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor. To love the Lord is to have faith in the Lord and obey His commandments, and to obey His commandments is to love the neighbor, since to obey the Lord's commandments is to be of useful service to the neighbor. People who love the Lord are those who obey His commandments, as the Lord Himself teaches in John 14:21-24. And love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor are the two commandments on which hang the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). The Law and the Prophets mean the Word in its entirety.

902. 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations. This symbolically means that the Word in its literal sense contains all of the doctrines of the New Church.

The wall of the city symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898), and its twelve foundations symbolize all of the doctrines of the church - its foundations symbolizing doctrines, and the number twelve all. The church, moreover, is founded on doctrine, for it teaches how a person is to believe and live, and its doctrine is to be drawn only from the Word. That it is to be drawn from the Word's literal sense may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 50-61.

Since the twelve foundations of the wall of the city New Jerusalem symbolize all of the church's doctrine, and the church is a church by virtue of its doctrine, therefore its foundations are described in more detail in verses 19 and 20 below.

The foundations of the earth are mentioned a number of times in the Word, and they do not mean the foundations of the earth, but the foundations of the church, inasmuch as the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285). And the foundations of the church are only ones that come from the Word and are called doctrines. For it is the Word itself that provides a foundation for the church.

[2] Doctrines drawn from the Word are symbolized by foundations also in the following passages:

Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21)

I will put My words in your mouth... to plant the heavens and found the earth... (Isaiah 51:16)

They do not acknowledge, they do not understand, they walk in darkness, all the foundations of the earth shake. (Psalms 82:5)

...the Word of Jehovah... who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. (Zechariah 12:1)

Jehovah... kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)

The impious... shoot in darkness the upright in heart, because the foundations are being destroyed... (Psalms 11:2-3)

Hear, O mountains, Jehovah's quarrel, you strong foundations of the earth; for Jehovah has a quarrel with His people... (Micah 6:2)

...the floodgates on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken... (Isaiah 24:18-20)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 14:32; 48:13; 51:13; Psalms 24:2; 102:25; 104:5-6; 2 Samuel 22:8, 16.

Whoever does not think that the earth symbolizes the church cannot help but think only naturally, even materially, when he reads in these places about the foundations of the earth. So it would be also if he were not to think of the city Jerusalem here as symbolizing the church when he reads about its wall, gates, foundations, streets, dimensions, and more, which are described in this chapter as features of a city, when in fact they are features of the church and so must be interpreted not materially, but spiritually.