723. Verse 5. And she brought forth a male child, who is to tend (pascere) ¹ all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto God and his throne.

"And she brought forth a male child," signifies the doctrine of truth for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, "who is to tend all the nations with a rod of iron," signifies that this doctrine, by the power of natural from spiritual truth, will refute and convict those who are in falsities and evils, and yet are in the church, where the Word is; "and her child was caught up unto God and his throne," signifies protection of the doctrine by the Lord, because it is for the New Church.

Фусноте:

10376. 'The tablets of stone, written with the finger of God' means the Divine Truth there, coming from the Lord Himself. This is clear from the meaning of 'the tablets' as the law in its entirety, thus the Word, dealt with in 9416; from the meaning of 'stone' as Divine Truth on lowest levels, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'being written with the finger of God' as coming from the Lord Himself, for what is written with anyone's finger comes from that person himself. The reason why those tablets were made of stone and the words of the law were written into the stone was that 'stone' means truth on lowest levels, and Divine Truth on lowest levels is the sense of the letter of the Word, containing the internal sense.

'Stone' means truth, see 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 9476, and truth on lowest levels, 8609.