863. Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made symbolizes the second state, when religious truth appeared to them. This can be seen from the final words of the last verse (saying that the heads of the mountains appeared) and their meaning; from the symbolism of a window; and from the fact that this is the first moment of light. A window, dealt with above at §655, symbolizes the intellectual side of things and consequently religious truth, which is the same thing.

As for the intellectual realm or the religious truth that the window symbolizes, I must make the same remark as before [§§854, 859]: No religious truth is at all possible unless it develops out of the goodness that goes with love or with charity, just as nothing truly belongs to the intellect unless it rises out of something in the will. If you take away volition, there is no comprehension, as demonstrated several times already [§§112, 585, 590, 628]. So if you take away charity, there is no faith.

But since the human will is undiluted greed, the Lord made a miraculous provision to prevent us from plunging the contents of the intellect — religious truth — into our selfish desires. He divided what belongs to the intellect from our will by the specific means of conscience, which he infuses with charity. Without this miraculous act of providence, no one could ever have been saved.

655. The symbolism of the window to be completed to a cubit above as the ability to understand is visible to anyone from the statements just made. Further clarity comes from considering that if the subject is the construction of the ark, and if the ark symbolizes a person in the church, the ability to understand cannot be compared to anything but a window above.

In other places too the Word calls human intellect (in other words, our inner sight) a window, whether that intellect engages in reason or merely rationalizes. In Isaiah, for example:

Afflicted one, tossed by a whirlwind, disconsolate: I will use rubies for your suns [windows], ¹ and make your gates of garnets and your whole border of desirable stones. (Isaiah 54:11-12)

The word used here for windows is suns because of the light that windows let in or transmit. The suns or windows are ideas in the intellect — ones that spring from charity, which is why they are described as rubies. The gates are rational concepts from the same source. The border is organized knowledge and sensory evidence. All of these items have to do with the Lord's church.

[2] All the windows in the Temple at Jerusalem represented the same thing. The ones at the top represented matters of understanding, those in the middle represented matters of reason, while those on the bottom represented matters of fact and sense impressions (the annex being three-storied; see 1 Kings 6:4, 6, 8). The windows of [the temple in] the new Jerusalem described by Ezekiel (40:16, 22, 25, 33, 36) have a similar representation.

In Jeremiah:

Death climbed through our windows, it came into our palaces, to cut off the toddler in the street, the youths in the avenues. (Jeremiah 9:21)

This is referring to windows of the middle story, which are matters of reason, and it says that these are obliterated. The toddler in the street is newborn truth.

As windows symbolize truth gained through the intellect and reason, they also symbolize falsity resulting from the misuse of reason. An example from the same author:

Doom to those who build their house on what is not justice and their upper rooms on what is not judgment; who say, "I will build myself a house of [large] dimensions, and upper rooms that are spacious," and cut windows out for themselves (and it is paneled in cedar), painting it with vermilion. (Jeremiah 22:13-14)

The windows stand for falsities adopted as premises. In Zephaniah:

Packs of animals will lie down in its midst, every wild animal of that nation. Both the spoonbill and the qippod ² will spend the night among its pomegranates. A voice will sing in the window; devastation is at the threshold. (Zephaniah 2:14)

This concerns Assyria and Nineveh, Assyria symbolizing the intellect, here one that has been devastated. A voice singing in the windows stands for misguided logic based on illusions.

Footnotes:

1188. The symbolism of Nineveh as the false elements of the doctrines and of Rehoboth and Calah as the same things from a different source can be seen from the symbolism of Nineveh in the Word, which will be discussed just below.

Falsities of this kind come from three sources:

1. Illusions of the senses, the darkness of an unenlightened intellect, and ignorance. (Falsity from this source is Nineveh.)

2. The same causes, but with some corrupt desire dominating, such as an eagerness to innovate or to be superior to others. (Falsity from this source is Rehoboth.)

3. The will, and so our cravings; specifically, the refusal to recognize the truth of any idea that does not cater to our cravings. (Falsity from this source is Calah.)

All of these kinds of falsity come into existence through Assyria, or sophistic reasoning about the true ideas and good effects of faith.

[2] The symbolism of Nineveh as falsity rising out of sensory illusions, darkness in an unenlightened intellect, and ignorance can be seen in the book of Jonah. Jonah was sent to Nineveh to pardon the city's people for being of this type. The symbolism can also be seen in the individual statements about Nineveh in Jonah. These ideas will be dealt with elsewhere, by the Lord's divine mercy. ¹ The narrative there is historical, but it is still prophetic too, harboring and representing as it does the same kinds of hidden meanings as all the other historical parts of the Word.

[3] The same is true in Isaiah 37:37-38 as well, where it talks about Assyria's king, saying that he stayed in Nineveh and while prostrating himself in the house of Nisroch, his god, was struck by his sons with a sword. Although these particulars are historical, they are still prophetic, harboring and representing as they do the same kinds of hidden meanings. Nineveh here symbolizes an outward show of worship that has false notions at its core; and because this kind of worship is idolatrous, the king was struck by his sons with a sword. Sons are false notions, as already shown [§1147], and a sword is the punishment that falsity carries with it (which is its meaning everywhere in the Word).

[4] In Zephaniah, too:

Jehovah will stretch his hand out over the north and destroy Assyria, and he will turn Nineveh into a desolation, into drought like the desert. And flocks will lie down in its midst, every wild animal of that nation; the spoonbill and the harrier will also spend the night among its pomegranates. ² A voice will sing in the window. Devastation is at the threshold, because he has stripped its cedar bare. (Zephaniah 2:13-14)

This describes Nineveh (in a writing mode typical of the prophets) and also the falsity symbolized by Nineveh. Because this falsity is worshiped, it is called the north, the wild animal of the nation, and a spoonbill and harrier among the pomegranates. The idea is also expressed in the statement that a voice sings in the window and the cedar — truth in the intellect — is stripped bare. All these expressions are symbolic of this kind of falsity.

Footnotes: