43. (1) THE TRUTHS OF THE SENSE OF THE LETTER OF THE WORD ARE MEANT BY THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WALL OF THE NEW JERUSALEM, Rev. xxi. This follows from the fact that by the New Jerusalem is meant a New Church as to doctrine, as was shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD, Nos. 62-63. Therefore, by its wall and by the foundations of the wall, nothing else can be meant but the external of the Word, that is, the sense of its Letter; for it is this sense from which there is doctrine, and by means of doctrine, the Church; and doctrine is like a wall with its foundations, that surrounds and secures the city. The following things are recorded in Revelation concerning the wall of the New Jerusalem and its foundations:
The angel measured the wall of the city Jerusalem, an hundred and forty-four cubits, which was the measure of a man, that is, of the angel ... And the wall had twelve foundations, garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. Rev. xxi [14], 17-20.
By the number one hundred and forty-four are signified all the truths and goods of the Church from doctrine derived from the sense of the Letter of the Word. The same is signified by twelve. By a man is signified intelligence; by an angel, Divine truth from which this is derived; by measurement is signified their quality; by the wall, and by its foundations, the sense of the Letter of the Word; and by the precious stones, the truths and goods of the Word in their order, from which is doctrine, and by means of doctrine, the Church.
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