260. Another time I was sent a small page from heaven with only a few words written on it in Hebrew letters. I was told that each letter enfolded treasures of wisdom, and that these were contained in the bends and curves of the letters and therefore in the sounds as well. I could see from this the meaning of the Lord's words, "I tell you in truth, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass away from the Law" (Matthew 5:18). It is acknowledged in the church that the Word is divine right down to the smallest point, but where in each point the Divine lies hidden - that is not known as yet, so it needs to be explained. In the inmost heaven, the writing consists of various curving and bending forms, and these curves and bends are in keeping with the form of heaven. Through them, angels express the treasures of their wisdom, including many things that they cannot say in words. Believe it or not, the angels know this writing without practice or teachers. They are inwardly gifted with it as they are with the language itself (236), so this writing is heavenly writing. The reason they are inwardly gifted with it is that all the outreach of angels' thoughts and affections and therefore all communication of their intelligence and wisdom takes place in keeping with heaven's form (201). This is why their writing flows into that same form.

I have been told that before letters were invented, the earliest humans on our planet had this kind of writing, and that it was transferred into the Hebrew letters, which in early times were all curved, with none marked off by straight lines the way they are now. This is why there are divine things and treasures of heaven in the Word even in its jots and points and little horns.

201. We need to know what heaven's form is like because it determines not only how angels associate with each other but also how all their communication takes place; and since all their communication is also an outreach of their thoughts and affections, this means all their intelligence and wisdom. This is why the extent to which we are in heaven's form (are forms of heaven) determines how wise we are. It amounts to the same thing whether you say "in heaven's form" or "in heaven's design," since the form of any entity comes from its design and is determined by it. ¹

Footnotes:

9877. 'With the engravings of a signet' means in accord with the heavenly pattern. This is clear from the meaning of 'the engravings of a signet' as the heavenly pattern, dealt with in 9846. As regards what the heavenly pattern is, it is the one which all the communities in heaven have been arranged in accordance with. Thus it is the pattern in accordance with which all truths springing from good have been arranged into order; for the angels in heaven are recipients of truths springing from good, the Divine Good emanating from the Lord being the creator of that pattern. In accordance with that pattern all the affections belonging to love, and from this all the thoughts belonging to faith flow; indeed in accordance with that pattern they spread out into the angelic communities and place them in communion with one another. So it is that those with whom the good of love to the Lord resides, and springing from this good the truths of faith, are in the greatest state of freedom in willing and thinking. But those with whom that good and consequently truths springing from it do not reside are in a state of bondage; for their will and thought begin in self and not the Lord, the creator of that pattern. But it is not possible to have a detailed knowledge of what that pattern is like, because it lies beyond human understanding.