904. 21:15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. This symbolically means that to people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord's New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.

He who spoke with me symbolizes the Lord speaking from heaven, because it was an angel speaking, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls mentioned in verse 9, who means the Lord speaking from heaven (no. 895). A reed symbolizes a power or ability springing from the goodness of love - a reed symbolizing power or ability (no. 485), and gold the goodness of love (nos. 211, 726). To measure means, symbolically, to learn the character of a thing, thus to understand and know it (no. 486). The city, the holy Jerusalem, symbolizes the church in respect to its doctrine (nos. 879, 880). Its gates symbolize concepts of truth and goodness from the Word's literal sense, which are truths and goods owing to the spiritual life in them (no. 899). And the wall symbolizes the Word in its literal sense from which the doctrine and concepts come (no. 898).

It is apparent from this that "he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall," symbolically means that to people who possess the goodness of love, the Lord grants a faculty for understanding and knowing the nature of the Lord's New Church as regards its doctrine and its introductory truths, and as regards the Word from which they are drawn.

[2] These symbolic meanings cannot be seen at all in the literal sense, for one sees in it only that an angel speaking with John had a gold reed with which to measure the city and its gates and wall. But even so, that these words contain another meaning, a spiritual meaning, is clearly apparent from the fact that the city Jerusalem does not mean a real city, but the church. Consequently everything said about Jerusalem as a city symbolizes such things as have to do with the church, and everything having to do with the church is, in itself, spiritual.

Such a spiritual meaning is present also in what is said in chapter 11 above, where we are told the following:

I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood by, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there." (Revelation 11:1)

A similar spiritual meaning is present, too, in everything that the angel measured with a reed in Ezekiel 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48. Also in these verses in Zechariah:

I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. So I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what its width is and what its length." (Zechariah 2:1-2)

Indeed, such a spiritual meaning is present in everything connected with the Tabernacle and in everything connected with the Temple in Jerusalem, whose measurements we are told, and also in the measurements themselves. And yet nothing of this can be seen in the literal sense.

6426. 'From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the spiritual kingdom possesses. This is clear from the meaning of 'the shepherd' as one who leads to the good of charity by means of the truth of faith, dealt with in 343, 3795, 6044 (here in the highest sense, since it has reference to the Lord, goodness and truth themselves are meant); from the meaning of 'the stone' as truth, dealt with in 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3773, 3789, 3798; and from the representation of 'Israel' as the spiritual Church, dealt with in 3305, 4286, for 'Israel' is spiritual good or the good of truth, 4286, 4598, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833. And since the good of truth is the essential element of the spiritual Church, 'Israel' means the spiritual Church, and in the highest sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom. From all this it is evident that 'from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the Lord's spiritual kingdom possesses.

[2] The reason why in the highest sense 'the stone of Israel' means the Lord with respect to the truth that His spiritual kingdom possesses is that in general 'the stone' means the temple, and specifically the foundation on which it stands. 'The temple' in turn means the Lord's Divine Human, as is clear in John 2:19, 21, and so does its 'foundation' in Matthew 21:42, 44, and in Isaiah 28:16. This meaning of 'the stone' in the highest sense - the Lord in respect to Divine Truth which His spiritual kingdom possesses - is evident in David,

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This has been done by Jehovah; it is marvellous in our eyes. Psalms 118:22-23.

'The stone' here is the Lord, as is made clear in Luke,

It is written, The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Whoever falls onto that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Luke 20:17-18.

These things are spoken by the Lord regarding Himself. In Isaiah,

He is your fear, and He is your dread; for He will be a sanctuary, though He will be a stone to strike against and a rock to stumble over ¹ for both houses of Israel. Many among them will trip, and fall, and be broken to pieces. Isaiah 8:13-15.

Here the Lord is referred to. In the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih said, Behold I [am He who] will lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tested stone, a precious corner-stone, surely founded. He who believes will not be hasty. Isaiah 28:16.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will place them as His glorious horse ² in battle. From Him comes the corner-stone, from Him the tent-peg, from Him the battle-bow. Zechariah 10:3-4.

[3] In Daniel,

You were watching, until a stone was cut out, not by means of hands, and it struck the statue on its feet, which were iron and clay, and smashed them to pieces. The stone that struck the statue became a great rock and filled the whole earth. The God of heaven will cause a kingdom to arise that will never be destroyed, and His kingdom will not be left to other people; it will crush and consume all those kingdoms, but will itself stand for ever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the rock, not by means of hands, and it smashed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold . . . Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45.

Here 'the stone' is used in the highest sense to mean the Lord, and in the relative sense to mean His spiritual kingdom. When it says that 'the stone was cut out of the rock' the meaning is that it came out of the truth of faith, for the truth of faith is meant in the Word by 'rock'. And because the truth of faith is meant by 'the stone' and 'the rock', the Lord's spiritual kingdom is also what is meant, since the truth of faith and good ensuing from this truth prevail in that kingdom. Something similar is also meant by 'the stone' on which Jacob slept and which he afterwards set up as a pillar, described as follows,

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And in the morning Jacob rose up early, and took the stone which he had placed as his headrest, and placed it as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He said, This stone which I have placed as a pillar will be God's house. Genesis 28:16-18, 22.

The fact that by 'the stone' the ancients understood the Lord in the highest sense and His spiritual kingdom in the relative sense is also plain to see in Joshua,

Joshua erected the stone under the oak which was in Jehovah's sanctuary. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone will be a witness to us, for it has heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He spoke to us. And it shall be a witness against you, lest you deny your God. Joshua 24:26, 17.

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