The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see if we consider the conflicts we tend to have between our "hearts" and our "heads" -- between what we want and what we know. Our "hearts" tell us that we want pie with ice cream for dinner; our "heads" tell us we should have grilled chicken and salad. If we can bring those two together and actually want what's good for us, we'll be pretty happy. We're built that way -- with our emotions balanced against our intellect -- because the Lord is built that way. His essence is love itself, or Divine Love, the source of all caring, emotion and energy. It is expressed as Divine Wisdom, which gives form to that love and puts it to work, and is the source of all knowledge and reasoning. In His case the two aspects are always in conjunction, always in harmony. It's easy also to see how that duality is reflected throughout creation: plants and animals, food and drink, silver and gold. Most importantly, it's reflected in the two genders, with women representing love and men representing wisdom. That's the underlying reason why conjunction in marriage is such a holy thing. So when "two" is used in the Bible to indicate some sort of pairing or unity, it means a joining together. In rare cases, however, "two" is used more purely as a number. In these cases it stands for a profane or unholy state that comes before a holy one. This is because "three" represents a state of holiness and completion (Jesus, for instance, rose from the tomb on the third day), and "two" represents the state just before it.

57. 论到主曾交与彼得的钥匙, 我与属巴比伦者有过交谈, 询问他们是否认为主掌管天地的权柄真的交给了彼得。他们强烈地坚持这一点, 说那是毫无疑问的, 是主明说的, 因为这是他们信仰的根本。我问他们是否知道圣言处处包含灵义, 也就是圣言在天国的含义, 他们起先说不知道, 随后又说会问个明白。询问以后, 他们得知圣言的确处处包含灵义, 与字义截然不同, 如属灵的与属世的截然不同, 也得知天上的圣言不含任何人的名字, 而是所对应的灵义。最后, 他们被告知, "彼得"在圣言中系指信之真理, 发于仁之良善, "磐石"所指相同, 正如经上说:"你是彼得, 我要把我的教会建造在这磐石上。"(马太福音16:18)主的意思不是将权柄交给彼得, 而是交予良善之真理, 因为在天国, 一切权柄属于良善之真理。而良善与真理无不出于主, 丝毫不是出于人, 权柄也就都属于主。

听了这些话, 他们开始愤愤不平, 想知道这话是否真含灵义。当时, 天上的圣言被交与他们, 该圣言不含属世之义, 独含属灵之义, 因为是为天使所写, 而天使是属灵的。对于天上有此圣言, 可参看《天国与地狱》一书(天国与地狱259-261)。他们读了, 明明看见此处并无彼得之名, 而是发于主的良善之真理。亲眼看见这一点, 他们愤怒地表示拒绝。若非圣言被及时收走, 他们必要将之撕成碎片。因此, 虽不情愿, 他们也不得不承认唯独主掌管天国的权柄, 该权柄不可能属于任何人, 因为这是神的权柄。