487. The symbolism of days as those times and states in general was shown in the first chapter [§23], where the days of creation symbolize nothing else.

It is very common for the Word to call all units of time "days." ¹ In this verse the practice is quite obvious, as it also is in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, and 31 below. The general states at those times accordingly are symbolized by days as well. When years are mentioned in conjunction with days, the time spans represented by those years symbolize the nature of the states then; in other words, they symbolize the specific states.

[2] The earliest people had particular numbers they used for symbolizing various aspects of the church: three, seven, ten, twelve, and additional ones that they compounded out of these and others. This allowed them to sum up the states of the church. As a result, these numbers contain hidden wisdom that would require a long explanation. It was a way of evaluating different states in the church.

The same phenomenon occurs at many other places in the Word, especially in the prophets. In the rites of the Jewish religion there are also numbers for both timing and measurement in connection with sacrifices, minhas, ² oblations, and other acts of worship; and everywhere those numbers occur they symbolize holiness in the thing they are applied to.

What these numbers specifically involve, then — the eight hundred in this verse, the nine hundred thirty in the next, and so on for the numbers of years in the following verses — is more than I can ever convey. They all come down to changes in the state of religion among those people, seen in relation to their general state.

Later on, by the Lord's divine mercy, I will need to tell what the simple numbers up to twelve symbolize. ³ Unless this is known first, the symbolism of their products cannot be grasped.

Footnotes:

1686. Four kings against five symbolizes the unity of the truth and goodness and the disunity of the evil and falsity, as the symbolism of four and of five shows. Four symbolizes unity because it symbolizes pairings, just as two does when it has to do with a marriage between things, as noted at §720. Five, however, symbolizes disarray because it symbolizes a small amount, as illustrated at §649. All meanings depend on the subject under discussion.

648. The heavenly and spiritual symbolism of numbers and dimensions in the Word is plainly indicated by the taking of the measurements of the New Jerusalem and the new temple as recorded by John and Ezekiel. Anyone can see that the New Jerusalem and the new temple symbolize the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth. Clearly that kingdom cannot be physically measured, and yet numerical dimensions of length, width, and height are specified.

From this, anyone can reach the conclusion that the numbers and measurements hold a sacred meaning. In John, for example:

A reed like a staff was given to me, and the angel stood nearby. He told me, "Get up and measure God's temple and the altar and those worshiping in it." (Revelation 11:1)

And regarding the New Jerusalem:

The wall of the heavenly Jerusalem was big and high, having twelve gates and on the gates twelve angels and names written, which are those of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates. The wall of the city had twelve foundations and on them the twelve names of the Lamb's apostles. The one who was talking to me had a golden reed for measuring the city and its gates and its wall. The city lies square, and its length is as great as its width. So he measured the city with the reed at twelve thousand stadia. Its length and width and height were equal. He measured its wall at a hundred forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a human, that is, of an angel. (Revelation 21:12-13, 14, 15, 16-17)

[2] The number twelve turns up repeatedly in this passage. It is a sacred number because it symbolizes the holy things of faith, as was mentioned above at verse 3 of the present chapter [§577]. (The same thing will be demonstrated below at chapters 29, 30 of Genesis [§§3858, 3862, 3913:1], with the Lord's divine mercy.) This is why it adds that the measure is the measure of a human, that is, of an angel.

The meaning is similar for the new temple and the new Jerusalem spoken of in Ezekiel, where again they are described by their measurements. See Ezekiel 40:3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13-14, 22, 25, 30, 36, 42, 47; 41; 42:5-15; Zechariah 2:1-2. In these places too, the numbers have no meaning by themselves. The only meaning is the one abstracted from the numbers, which is that of something holy and either heavenly or spiritual. This holds true for all the dimensions of the ark in Exodus 25:10 as well, and those of the appeasement cover, golden table, dwelling place, and altar in Exodus 25:17, 23; 26; 27:1. Likewise for all the figures and dimensions connected with the Temple in 1 Kings 6:2-3; and for many others.