44. The good and true elements of the literal meaning of the Word are meant by the Urim and Thummim.

The Urim and Thummim were on the ephod of Aaron, whose priesthood represented the Lord’s divine goodness and his work of salvation. The sacred garments of priesthood represented the divine truth that arises from divine goodness. The ephod represented divine truth in its outermost form and therefore the Word in its literal meaning because this, as noted above [§§1-4; [2], 27-36; 38[2]], is divine truth in its outermost form. So the twelve precious stones with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which were the Urim and Thummim, mean the complete assemblage of divine truths arising from divine goodness.

[2] This is what we read in Moses:

They shall make an ephod of blue, purple, and double-dyed scarlet [thread], and fine woven linen. Then they shall make a breastplate of judgment matching the work of the ephod. And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: carnelian, topaz, and emerald, the first row; chrysoprase, sapphire, and diamond, the second row; jacinth, agate, and amethyst, the third row; and beryl, sardius, and jasper, the fourth row. The stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, [like] the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes. Aaron shall wear the Urim and Thummim on the breastplate of judgment, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before Jehovah. (Exodus 28:6, 15-21, 30)

[3] I have explained in the appropriate chapter of Secrets of Heaven [9819-9966] the meaning of Aaron’s garments - the ephod, the robe, the tunic, the turban, and the belt. There it is shown that the ephod represented divine truth in its outermost form; the precious stones represented truths from which light shines because they teach what is good; the twelve precious stones represented all the truths, in the right arrangement, that shine in their outermost form because good actions from love are what they teach; the twelve tribes of Israel represented all aspects of the church; the breastplate represented divine truth that comes from divine goodness; and the Urim and Thummim represented the radiance of divine truth that comes from divine goodness, in its outermost forms. In fact, in the language of angels, “Urim” means shining fire and “Thummim” means radiance. (In Hebrew the latter means “wholeness”.) It is also shown there that oracular answers were given by variations in the light accompanied by silently projected ideas or even by words that resounded aloud, and other methods.

[4] We can conclude from this that the precious stones also meant truths in the outermost meaning of the Word that come from goodness; and this is the only way oracular answers are given from heaven, because that is the meaning in which the emanating divine is fully present. By seeing precious stones and diamonds among angels and spirits in the spiritual world, I have been able to see very clearly that precious stones and diamonds mean divine truths in their outermost forms, like the truths in the literal meaning of the Word. I have seen angels wearing them and have seen gems in their jewel boxes. I have also been granted to know that they correspond to truths in outermost form - in fact, this correspondence is what causes these precious stones and diamonds to exist and to look the way they do.

Since this is what diamonds and precious stones mean, John also saw them on the head of the dragon (Revelation 12:3), on the horns of the beast (Revelation 13:1), and on the whore who was sitting on the scarlet beast (Revelation 17:4). He saw them on these creatures because they meant the people of the Christian church, who have the Word.

27. The Literal Meaning of the Word Is the Foundation, the Container, and the Support of Its Spiritual and Heavenly Meanings

IN every work of God there is something first, something intermediate, and something last; and what is first works through what is intermediate to what is last and in this way becomes manifest and persists, so what is last is a foundation. The first is also in the intermediate, and through the intermediate is in what is last, so what is last is a container; and since what is last is a container and a foundation, it is also a support.