The number "four" in the Bible represents things being linked together or joined. This is partly because four is two times two, and two represents the ultimate linking between our desire to be good and our understanding of truth. We can also see this in the fact that most buildings are rectangular, with the four sides linking together to make a whole. We also divide directions into four -- north, east, south and west -- and talk about the "four corners" of something meaning all of it. So our special thinking naturally looks at four sides as linking together into a whole.

(Ссылки: Apocalypse Explained 417; Arcana Coelestia 1686, 9103, 9601, 9767, 9864)

144. This kind of turning toward the Lord is one of heaven's wonders, for many individuals can be together in one place, turning faces and bodies toward each other, and yet all of them will have the Lord in front of them, and each will have the south on the right, the north on the left, and the west behind.

Another extraordinary fact is that even though angels are completely oriented toward the east, they still have an orientation to the other three directions. This orientation, though, involves their more inward sight, which is a function of their thinking.

A further extraordinary fact is that in heaven, no one is allowed to stand behind anyone else and look at the back of his or her head. This disturbs the inflow of what is good and true from the Lord.