354. "Come and see," signifies attention and perception. This is evident from the signification of "coming" when anything is presented to be seen, as being to give attention; for in a spiritual sense, "to come" means to draw near with the sight, thus to give attention; all attention also is a presence of the sight in the object. It is evident also from the signification of "to see," as being perception, for "to see" in the Word signifies to understand (See above, n. 11, 260); here it signifies to perceive, because this was out of the inmost heaven, since what comes out of the inmost heaven is perceived, but what comes out of the middle heaven is understood, for the reason that the inmost heaven is in the good of love, but the middle heaven is in the truths therefrom, and all perception is from good, and all understanding is from truths. (On this see above, n. 307; what perception is, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 140.)

6. I need to explain briefly what "Jerusalem" means in the spiritual meaning of the Word. "Jerusalem" means the essential church, with a focus on its body of teaching. This is because there in the land of Canaan and nowhere else were the Temple and the altar, there and nowhere else were sacrifices offered and consequently was actual worship of God performed. That is why the three annual festivals ¹ were held there, and every male in the whole land was obliged to attend. That is why Jerusalem now, spiritually understood, means the church in regard to its worship or to its body of teaching-which amounts to the same thing, because its worship is defined by its body of teaching and performed as that body of teaching prescribes.

The reason it says "the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven" is that in the spiritual meaning of the Word "a city" means a body of teaching, and "a holy city" means a body of teaching based on divine truth. This is because divine truth is what the Word refers to as "holy. " It says "the New Jerusalem" for much the same reason that it refers to the earth as new. That is, as just noted [§5], "the earth" means the church and Jerusalem means that church in regard to its body of teaching. It is described as coming down from God out of heaven because all the divine truth that gives rise to a body of teaching comes down out of heaven from God.

It is obvious that "Jerusalem" does not mean a city (even though it looked like a city), because it says that its height was the same as its length and breadth, twelve thousand stadia (verse 16); that the measure of its wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, was the measure of a human being, that is, of an angel (verse 17); that it was prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (verse 2); and that later "The angel said, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. ' And he showed me the holy city Jerusalem" (verses 9, 10). It is the church that is called the Lord's bride and wife in the Word, his "bride" before they have been joined together and his "wife" afterward-see Secrets of Heaven 3103, 3105, 3164, 3165, 3207, 7022, 9182.

Imibhalo yaphansi: