666. And they stood upon their feet.- That this signifies a new life such as the regenerated man of the church has, is evident from the signification of standing, as denoting to be and to live, and also to sustain (concerning which see above 414); and from the signification of feet, as denoting the Natural, which is the ultimate of Divine order, and the basis upon which things prior or higher rest and upon which they subsist (concerning which also, see above 69, 600:1, 606). Standing upon the feet therefore signifies life in fulness, because in the ultimate; new life is signified, because the witnesses, who are here treated of, were slain and lived again. Standing upon the feet signifies here such life as pertains to the regenerated man of the church, because these things are said of the two witnesses, by whom are meant all who are in the goods of love by means of truths of doctrine, and who are such as have been regenerated; also, because when the Natural signified by the feet, is regenerated, then the whole man has life, such as pertains to a regenerated man, according to the words of the Lord in John:

[2] Jesus said to Peter,

"He that is washed, needeth not save to be washed as to the feet, and he is wholly clean" (13:10).

To be washed signifies to be purified from evils and falsities, which is to be regenerated, therefore he that is washed signifies he who is purified, that is, regenerated, as to what is spiritual, which is the good of love and the truth of doctrine; and these are first to be received in the memory and understanding, that is, to be known and acknowledged. Needeth not save to be washed as to the feet signifies that the natural or external man is then to be purified or regenerated, which is done by a life according to the precepts of love and faith, that is, according to the goods and truths of doctrine from the Word; when this takes place, the man himself is purified or regenerated. For to live according to the goods and truths of doctrine from the Word, is to will them, and thus to do them, which is the same thing as to be affected with them, and to love them; for what is done from the will, is done from affection and love, consequently from the man himself, the will being the man himself, because a man is his own love and his own affection; it is therefore said that then the whole man is clean.

[3] From these considerations it is evident why it is, that to stand upon the feet denotes life such as pertains to a regenerated man. Also of the dry bones seen by the prophet on the face of the valley, after they were covered with sinews, flesh, and skin it is said, "When I prophesied" concerning the spirit, "the spirit entered into them, and they lived again, and stood upon their feet" (Ezekiel 37:10). Here also by standing upon the feet is signified new life, such as pertains to a regenerated man. For the dry bones to which the house of Israel is likened signify the state of the church with them, namely, that it was without the goods of love and truths of doctrine; and by being clothed with sinews, flesh, and skin, is signified regeneration, and by the spirit which entered, new life by the influx and reception of Divine Truth; it is therefore then said, that they lived again and stood upon their feet. The signification of standing upon the feet elsewhere in the same prophet is similar.

A voice speaking to me said "Son of Man, stand upon thy feet, that I may speak to thee; then the spirit entered into me, when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, and I heard him speaking to me" (Ezekiel 2:1, 2).

And again:

"I fell upon my faces, but the spirit entered into me, and raised me upon my feet" (Ezekiel 3:23, 24).

These things happened, because life itself, when it is in its fulness, is signified by standing upon the feet, and it is in its fulness when the Natural lives from the Spiritual. For the ultimate of man's life is in his Natural, this ultimate being a base as it were for his interior and higher [things], for these terminate in the ultimate and subsist there. Unless therefore life be in the ultimate, it is not full, thus not perfect; and moreover, all the interior or higher co-exist in the ultimate, as in their simultaneity; thus interior or higher things are according to the quality of the ultimate, for these accommodate themselves to the ultimate, because it receives them.

[4] The signification of standing upon the feet in David is similar:

"Thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place" (Psalm 31:8).

A broad place signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, therefore to make my feet to stand in a broad place signifies to cause him to live according to Divine truths.

Again in the same:

"He made me to come up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock" (Psalm 40:2).

The pit of destruction signifies falsity of doctrine, and the miry clay, evil of life; the signification of setting his feet upon a rock is similar to that of making his feet stand in a broad place, for a rock signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, and, in the highest sense, the Lord as to Divine truth.

[5] It is therefore evident, what is signified in the spiritual sense by Jehovah "will not suffer my foot to totter" (Psalm 121:3), namely, that He will not suffer the Natural to go astray from truths; for in proportion as the natural goes astray, the interiors which belong to the understanding and will also go astray.

62. And being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. That this signifies, the New Heaven and the New Church, which are in the good of love, is evident from the signification of turned to see, as denoting to understand from enlightenment (concerning which see what has just been said, n. 61); and from the signification of seven, as denoting all and what is full, and as being said of the holy things of heaven and the church (concerning this see above, n. 20, 24); from the signification of lampstands, as being the New Heaven and the New Church, as will be seen in what follows; and from the signification of gold, as being the good of love (respecting which, see Arcana Coelestia 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881). That the seven lampstands signify heaven and the church, is evident from the last verse of this chapter, where it is said, "The seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches." That the seven churches signify all who belong to the church of the Lord, thus the church in general, may be seen above (n. 20); the reason why they also signify heaven, is, that heaven and the church make one. Heaven also is in those in whom the church is; the reason is, that the good of love and the good of faith constitute the church with man, and also constitute heaven with him, as with the angels; therefore those who, while in the world, had the church in them, that is to say, the goods and truths of the church, come into heaven after death. (That this is the case, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 12; and in the work, Heaven and Hell 57, 221-227.) The reason why the New Heaven and the New Church are here meant by the seven lampstands is, that these are ultimately treated of in the Apocalypse (as may be seen, chap. 21), and thus form the conclusion of all things therein; and since that which is ultimate is also the primary, therefore a prediction concerning them is presented in the beginning of that book.

In the Word it is also usual to mention those things in the first place which are done in the last, because intermediate things are included in them; for the primary thing, in the spiritual sense, is the end for which all the other things exist, inasmuch as the end is the primary and the ultimate, and all other things have respect to it (as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 98).

[2] That a lampstand signifies heaven and the church, may be evident from the description of the lampstand which was in the tabernacle; for by the tabernacle was represented heaven in its whole extent; and by the lampstand therein the spiritual heaven, which is the second heaven (see Arcana Coelestia 3478, 9457, 9481, 9485, 9548-9577, 9783). That this is the case is clearly evident from the fact, that John saw in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of man; and the Son of man is the Lord as to the Divine Human, from which Divine truth proceeds, which is the all in all of heaven and the church. In the spiritual heaven the inhabitants see lampstands of great splendour; their heaven is represented by these; I have also been permitted to see them. It is, therefore, evident what is meant, in the spiritual sense of the Word, by lampstands and by lamps, in the following passages. In the Apocalypse:

"I will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent" (2:5)

To remove their lampstand, is to take away heaven or the church from them. In Zechariah:

The angel said to the prophet: "What seest thou? And I said, I saw, and behold a lampstand all of gold, its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon, with seven pipes to the lamps" (4:2, 3).

In this passage Zerubbabel is treated of, who was to lay the foundation of the house of God, and to perfect it; by whom is represented the Lord, who was about to come, and to restore heaven and the church, which are signified by the lampstand; and the holy truths therein are the seven lamps. Because a lampstand derives its representative signification from lamps, and lamps theirs from light, which in heaven is the Divine truth, therefore the Lord also is called a lamp, as in the Apocalypse:

The holy Jerusalem "had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof" (21:23; 22:5).

This is why David, and the kings after him, were called "lamps of Israel" (2 Sam. 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19). For by David was represented the Lord as to his regal function; and similarly by the kings of Judah and Israel. (The representation by David may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1888, 9954; and by kings, above, n. 31.) The reason why the lampstands that were seen were of gold, was, that gold signifies the good of love, and all that proceeds from the Lord is from Divine love; wherefore the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is love to Him and love towards the neighbour, which is charity (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13-19). This is the reason why the lampstands here mentioned, and also the lampstand lit the tabernacle, was of gold.