29. And the Prince of the kings of the earth, signifies from whom is all the truth from good in the church. This is evident from the signification of "Prince of kings," as meaning from whom is all truth; a "prince" denoting what is primary, and "kings" truths; and, because it refers to the Lord, who is here called "Prince of kings," it means from whom is all truth (that "prince" means what is primary, see Arcana Coelestia 1482, 2089, 5044; and that "kings" are truths, see in the explanation of the following verse, where it is said, "and hath made us kings and priests," n. 31; also from the signification of the "earth," as meaning the church (of which in what follows). One who knows not the internal sense of the Word must needs believe that the kings of the whole earth are here meant; whereas kings are not meant, nor earth; but by "kings" are meant all who are in truths from good; and by the "earth" is meant the church. (That by the "earth" is signified the church is shown in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, from which these particulars may be seen: That by the "earth" is signified the kingdom of the Lord and the church, n. 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643. The chief reason of which is, that by the "earth" is meant the land of Canaan; and the church was there from most ancient times, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6516, 9325, 9327; also that, in the spiritual sense, by the "earth" is meant the nation who dwell thereon, and their worship, n . 1262. That the "new heaven the new earth" signify the church in the heavens on earth 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, 10373. That by the creation of heaven and earth, in the first chapters of Genesis, in the internal sense, is described the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, see n. 8891, 9942, 10545. That to "create" is to establish and regenerate, see n. Arcana Coelestia 10373. That "ground," too, signifies the church; "ground" from the reception of seeds, which are truths, but "earth" from the nations therein, and their worship, see n. 566, 1068, 10570. Moreover, "earth," as it signifies the church, signifies also the religious principle, consequently also such as is idolatrous; as the land of Egypt, the land of the Philistines, the land of Chaldea, and of Babel, and many others. That "earth" signifies the church is also briefly shown in the small work on The Last Judgment 3, 4.)

9280. 'In order that your ox and your ass may rest' means the peace and serenity that external forms of good and truths enjoy at the same time. This is clear from the meaning of 'resting', when it refers to the seventh day or the sabbath, as peace and serenity, as immediately above in 9279; and from the meaning of 'ox' as external good, and of 'ass' as external truth, dealt with in 2781, 9135, 9255.

Beasts were signs of affections and inclinations such as the human being shares in common with them, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198, 5913, 8937, 9090, 9135.

Beasts were used in sacrifices in accordance with their spiritual meaning, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519.

All things existing in the world, in its three kingdoms, were representative of the spiritual and celestial realities of the Lord's kingdom, 1632, 1881, 2758, 2987-3003, 3213-3227, 3483, 3624-3649, 4939, 5116, 5427, 5428, 5477, 8211.

All things have a correspondence, 2987-3003, 3213-3226, 3337-3352, 3472-3485, 3624-3649, 3745-3750, 3883-3896, 4039-4055, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4420, 4523-4533, 4622-4634, 4652-4660, 4791-4806, 4931-4952, 5050-5062, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 8615.

[2] These references have been drawn together to enable it to be seen that not merely all beasts but also all objects in the world have a correspondence, and that in accordance with their correspondences they all represent and serve to mean spiritual and celestial realities, and in the highest sense Divine realities that are the Lord's. And from this the character of the ancient Churches, called representative Churches, may be seen. This character was such that each one of their sacred observances served to represent things that are the Lord's and belong to His kingdom, thus aspects of love to Him and belief in Him. In those times heaven was joined to a member of the Church by means of these observances, since internal aspects were presented in heaven. The Word of the Lord has also been given to the same end, for every detail in it, even to the smallest part of a letter, has a correspondence and spiritual meaning. Through the Word alone therefore is heaven linked to mankind.

[3] No one at the present day knows that this is so. Consequently when the natural man reads the Word and seeks to discover where its Divinity lies, but does not find it in the letter on account of its very ordinary style, he at first begins to disparage it and then to reject the idea that it has been dictated by God and sent down to mankind by way of heaven. The natural man does not know that the Word is Divine by virtue of its spiritual sense, which is not visible in the letter but is nevertheless present within the letter; nor does he know that this sense is presented in heaven when someone on earth reads it devoutly, and that the subject in that sense is the Lord and His kingdom. These are the Divine things which make the Word Divine and through which holiness flows from the Lord by way of heaven, even into the literal sense and into the actual letters. But as long as a person does not know what anything spiritual is he cannot know either what the spiritual sense is, nor thus what correspondence is. And as long as a person loves the world more than heaven, and self more than the Lord, he has no wish to know these things and understand them. Yet they were the source of all intelligence among the ancients, and they are also the source of wisdom among the angels. Hidden mysteries, which numerous diviners have vainly toiled to track down in the Word, lie in those things alone.