219. (Verse 12) He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. That this signifies that those who persevere will be in Divine truth in heaven is evident from the signification of overcoming, as denoting to persevere in the genuine affection of truth (concerning which see above, n. 128); in this case, in faith from charity, because that faith is treated of in what is written to the angel of this church (as may be seen above, n. 203); and from the signification of pillar, as denoting Divine truth sustaining; also from the signification of the temple of my God, as being, in the highest sense, the Divine Human of the Lord, and, in the relative sense, the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, thus the heaven constituting that kingdom, which will be treated of in what follows. The reason why a pillar in the temple denotes Divine truth sustaining, is that temple signifies heaven, and heaven is heaven from the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. For by heaven are meant all the angels, because these constitute heaven, whence it is called heaven; and they are angels in so far as they receive the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord: hence angels in the Word also signify Divine truth (as may be seen above, n. 130, 200). Now because heaven is Divine truth, and since temple signifies heaven, it follows that all the things of the temple signify those things that belong to Divine truth, and that the pillars therein signify Divine truth sustaining.

Divine truths sustaining are, in general, truths of a lower degree, because these sustain those of a higher degree; for there are Divine truths lower and higher, as there are heavens lower and higher; thus there are degrees of the same (see in the work, Heaven and Hell 38, 208, 209, 211). The heavens which exist in a lower degree sustain those of a higher degree; here, therefore, by the Lord's making him that overcometh a pillar in the temple is signified that they will be in the lower heaven. Those who are in the faith of charity also are in the lower heaven, which is called the spiritual heaven; but those who are in love to the Lord are in the higher heaven, which is called the celestial heaven, and this is sustained by the lower or spiritual heaven. (How these things are, may be more clearly seen, as they are shown in three articles, in the work, Heaven and Hell, that is, in the article where it is shown that the Divine of the Lord in heaven is love to Him and charity towards the neighbour, n. 13-19; in another, where it is shown that heaven is distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual, n. 20-28; and in a third, where it is shown that there are three heavens, 29-40.)

[2] Pillars are mentioned in various parts of the Word, and thereby are signified truths of a lower degree, because they sustain those of a higher degree. That the former truths are signified in the Word by pillars is evident from the following passages. In Jeremiah:

"Behold, I have given thee this day for a defenced city, and for a pillar of iron, and for walls of brass against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes, and against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land, that they may fight against thee and not prevail" (1:18, 19).

These things were said to the prophet, because by all the prophets are signified the doctrines of Divine truth; and because the subject here treated of is the church in which Divine truths are falsified, it is therefore said: "Behold, I have given thee this day for a defenced city, and a pillar of iron and walls of brass against the whole land."

By a defenced city is signified the doctrine of truth; by a pillar of iron, truth sustaining it; by walls of brass, the good which defends; and by land, the church. It is said, also, "Against the kings of Judah, against the princes, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land"; and by the kings of Judah, and by princes, are signified truths falsified; by priests, goods adulterated; and by the people of the land, falsities in general; concerning which it is intimated that they should fight against truths but should not prevail.

[3] In the same:

"Appoint unto thee signs, place for thyself pillars, set thine heart to the narrow way; go the way; return, O virgin of Israel! return to thy cities" (31:21).

The restitution of the church is here treated of. The virgin of Israel signifies the church; to appoint signs, and to place pillars, signifies instruction in those things that are the fundamentals of the church, called pillars because they sustain; to set the heart to the narrow way signifies the affection of truth leading to life.

[4] In David:

"I will judge in uprightness the faint of the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof; I will establish the pillars thereof" (Psalms 75:2, 3).

Here, by the faint of the earth are signified those of the church who are not in truths, but who nevertheless desire them. To establish, or strengthen, the pillars of the earth signifies to support the church by those truths upon which it is founded. In Job:

"Who maketh the earth to tremble out of its place, so that the pillars thereof tremble" (Job 9:6).

By the earth is here signified the church, and by pillars the truths which sustain it. That by "the pillar of the court of the tent," mentioned in Exodus 27:10-12, 14-17, are also signified lower truths sustaining higher ones, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia, in the explanation of that chapter and those verses. Similar truths are signified by the pillars of the house of the forest of Lebanon, built by Solomon, mentioned in 1 Kings 7:2, 6.

[5] Such also is the signification of the two pillars which Solomon erected in the porch of the temple, and which are thus described in the first book of Kings.

He "formed two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits did compass the second pillar about. And he made two crowns of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: seven for the one crown, and seven for the other crown. And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple; and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz" (7:15-22).

Because the temple signified heaven, as will be shown presently, therefore all the things of the temple signified the things of heaven, thus those of the Divine truth; for, as said above, heaven is heaven from the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; its porch signified the things of the ultimate heaven, and because this sustains the two higher heavens, therefore those two pillars were placed in the porch.

3887. In heaven or the Grand Man there are two kingdoms, one called celestial, the other spiritual. The celestial kingdom consists of angels who are called celestial and are those who have been governed by love to the Lord and so by all wisdom. For they more than all others abide in the Lord and so more than all others experience the state of peace and innocence. To others they look like young children, for the state of peace and innocence gives them this appearance. Everything there is living so to speak in their eyes, for that which comes directly from the Lord is living. Such is the celestial kingdom. The second kingdom is called spiritual. This consists of angels who are called spiritual and are those who have been governed by the good that flows from charity towards the neighbour. The delight of life is considered by them to lie in being able to do good to others without reward. To them being allowed to do good to others is itself a reward. And the more this is their will and desire the greater the intelligence and happiness they experience, for in the next life the Lord confers intelligence and happiness on everyone according to the use which he performs from the affection that belongs to his will. Such is the spiritual kingdom.

[2] Inhabitants of the Lord's celestial kingdom all belong to the province of the heart, and those of His spiritual kingdom all belong to the province of the lungs. The influx from the celestial kingdom into the spiritual kingdom is similar to the influx of the heart into the lungs, and also to the influx of all things belonging to the heart into those belonging to the lungs. For the heart reigns in the whole of the body and in every individual part of it by means of the blood vessels, as do the lungs in every individual part by means of the breathing. Consequently throughout the body there is so to speak an influx of the heart into the lungs, but this is dependent on the forms there and on the states. This is how all sensation arises and also all activity which belongs properly to the body. This point can also be proved from embryos and new-born infants. These cannot have any bodily sensation or any act of individual will until the lungs have been opened for them and an influx consequently takes place of heart into lungs. It is similar in the spiritual world, the difference being that bodily and natural things do not exist in that world but celestial and spiritual, which are the good of love and the good of faith. With them therefore motions of the heart are determined by the states of love, and respiratory motions by the states of faith. The influx of one into the other causes them to have sensations of things in a spiritual manner and to act in a spiritual manner. These ideas are bound to seem paradoxical to man because he has no other idea of the good of love or of the truth of faith than that they are some abstract qualities which have no power to effect anything. In fact the contrary is the case; that is to say, they are the source of all perception and sensation, of all energy and activity, including those in man.