Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. Jerusalem first comes to our attention in 2 Samuel 5, when King David takes the city from the Jebusites and makes it his capital. In the next chapter he brings the Ark of the Covenant there, and later it is where Solomon builds the temple, and his own palace. From then on Jerusalem is the center of worship of the Israelitish church. It is the place where the Lord was presented in the temple as a baby, where He tarried to talk to the priests at age twelve, where He cleansed the temple, had the last supper, was crucified and then rose. It is a central place in both the old and new Testaments. The city was built on Mount Zion, the highest point of the mountains of Judea. A city, in the Word, represents doctrine, the organized knowledge of the truths of the church. Mountains represent love of the Lord and the consequent worship. If you put those things together, Jerusalem on Mount Zion signifies the doctrine of love to the Lord, and how it governs your life. This is why David was led to make Jerusalem the most important city of the land, and why all worship was conducted there. And this is also why Jeroboam was condemned for introducing idol worship in Samaria. In the Book of Revelation, John's vision of the city New Jerusalem descending from God is a prophecy of a new dispensation of doctrine coming from the Lord.

(Ссылки: Arcana Coelestia 4539, 8938; The Apocalypse Explained 365 [35-38])

7989. “这是耶和华的看守夜” 表主与那些处于真理和良善的人, 以及那些陷入邪恶, 并因此陷入纯粹的虚假之人的同在. 这从 “夜” 和 “耶和华的看守” 的含义清楚可知: “夜” 是指一种诅咒的状态 (参看7851节); “耶和华的看守” 是指主的同在和随之而来的保护. 因为通过主的同在, 那些处于良善, 并因此处于真理的人被光照, 而那些陷入邪恶, 并因此陷入虚假的人则变瞎. 而且通过主的同在, 那些即将被提入天堂的人从诅咒中被带出来, 因为主使他们回避邪恶, 并将他们保守在良善中, 这一切凭的是主的大力. 通过主的同在, 那些即将被投入地狱的人也被带入诅咒, 因为他们照主同在的程度而陷入邪恶 (7643, 7926节). 正因如此, 这种状态和这个时间被称为 “耶和华的看守夜”. 此外, 下文以引领他们的日间云柱和夜间火柱 (出埃及记 13:21) 来描述主的同在; 在以色列营和埃及人营之间的立柱子本身, 以及当耶和华从柱中观看埃及人的营时, 埃及人就淹没在红海中 (出埃及记 14:19, 20, 24-27) 则描述了主既与那些处于良善和真理的人同在, 也与那些陷入邪恶和虚假的人同在.