I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself;

And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called, The Word of God. His armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean ... He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice ... Come and gather yourselves together unto the great supper ... That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Rev. xix 11-18.

No one can see what these things signify except from the spiritual sense of the Word, and no one can see the spiritual sense except from a knowledge of correspondences; for all the words are correspondences and not one word is without meaning. The science of correspondences teaches the signification of the white horse, of Him that sat upon it, of His eyes which were like a flame of fire, of the crowns which were on His head, of His vesture dipped in blood, of the white linen with which they who were of His army in heaven were clothed, of the angel standing in the sun, of the great supper to which they should come and gather themselves, and also of the flesh of kings, captains and many others which they were to eat.

What each of these particulars signifies in the spiritual sense may be seen in the little work on THE WHITE HORSE, where they are explained. It is therefore unnecessary to explain them further here. In that treatise it is shown that the Lord is here described as to the Word; by His eyes, which were as a flame of fire, by the crowns which were upon His head, and by the name which no one knoweth but Himself, is meant the spiritual sense of the Word, which no one knows but the Lord Himself and he to whom He wills to reveal it. Further, that by His vesture dipped in blood is meant the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of the Letter, to which violence has been done.

That it is the Word which is thus described is clearly manifest, for it is said, His name is called the Word of God; and that it is the Lord who is meant is also clearly manifest, for it is said the name of Him who sat on the white horse was written, King of kings and Lord of lords. That the spiritual sense of the Word is to be opened at the end of the Church is signified not only by what is said of the white horse and of Him who sat thereon, but also by the great supper to which the angel standing in the sun invited all to come, and to eat the flesh of kings, and of captains, of mighty men, of horses and of those that sat upon them, and of all, both free and bond. All these expressions would be empty words and without life and spirit unless there were something spiritual within them, as the soul is in the body.