663. Verses 11, 12. And after the three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying unto them, Come up hither! And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

11. "And after the three days and a half," signifies when it is finished, thus the end of the old church and the beginning of the New Church (n. 664); "the spirit of life from God entered into them," signifies enlightenment and the reception of the influx of Divine truth from the Lord with some for the beginning of the New Church n. 665; "and they stood upon their feet," signifies a new life such as the regenerated man of the church has n. 666; "and great fear fell upon them that beheld them," signifies a state of anxiety with those who did not receive and acknowledge (n. 667).

12. "And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying unto them," signifies the Lord's Divine providence (n. 668); "Come up hither," signifies separation and consequent protection (n. 669); "and they went up into heaven in the cloud," signifies separation in respect to things internal, and their protection n. 670; "and their enemies beheld them," signifies knowledge and acknowledgment with those who are interiorly opposed to the goods and truths of the Word and of the church n. 671.

669. Come up hither, signifies separation and consequent protection. This is evident from the signification of "going up into heaven" when said of the witnesses, by whom the goods of love and the truths of doctrine are signified, as being to be separated from those that have no goods of love and truths of doctrine, thus to be separated from the evil. And as the reason for separation is that these, namely, the good of love and the truth of doctrine, may not be harmed by the evil, therefore "come up hither" signifies also protection. For if the good of love and the truth of doctrine were communicated to the evil they would receive them in an outward way, but would do them harm by inwardly denying and mocking them. Thence it would come to pass that the evil would be conjoined with the simple well-disposed, who are unable to perceive that the interiors of such are evil. These simple well-disposed constitute the lowest heaven; therefore if this separation were not effected, harm would be done to those who are in that heaven by their being conjoined with the externals of the evil (but on this see further in the small work on The Last Judgment 70). This is what is involved in the command to the two witnesses "to go up into heaven," and by this also protection is signified.