902. [verse 14] 'And the wall of the city having twelve foundations' signifies that the Word in the sense of the letter contains all the things of the doctrine of the New Church. By 'the wall of the city' is signified the Word in the sense of the letter (n. 898); and by 'twelve foundations' are signified all the things of the doctrine of the Church. By 'foundations' are signified doctrinal tenets, and by 'twelve' all. The Church also is founded upon the doctrine, for it teaches how we are to believe and how we are to live, and the doctrine is to be drawn from no other source than the Word. That it is derived from the sense of the letter of the Word may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 50-61). Since all the things of the doctrine are signified by 'the twelve foundations of the wall of the city New Jerusalem', and the Church is a Church by virtue of the doctrine, therefore its foundations are treated of specifically below (vers. 19, 20). In the Word 'the foundations of the land' are mentioned several times, and by them are not understood the foundations of the land but the foundations of the Church, for 'the land' signifies the Church (n. 285); and the foundations of the Church are nothing else but the things that are derived from the Word and are called doctrinal tenets. For it is the Word itself that lays the foundations of the Church. [2] Doctrinal tenets derived from the Word are also signified by 'foundations' in these passages:-
Do you not understand the foundations of the land? Isa. xl 21.
I will put My words in thy mouth, to plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the land Isa. li 16.
They do not acknowledge, neither do they understand, they walk in darkness, all the foundations of the land totter Ps. lxxxii 5.
The Word of Jehovah, Who is stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the land and forming man's spirit in the midst of him Zech. xii 1.
Jehovah has kindled a fire in Zion which has devoured the foundations thereof Lam. iv 11.
The wicked are shooting in the darkness at the upright in heart, because the foundations are undermined Ps. xi 2, 3.
Hear, O mountains, Jehovah's controversy, the strong, O foundations of the land, because Jehovah has a controversy with His people Micah vi 2.
The waterfalls are opened from on high, and the foundations of the land are shaken, the land is broken in pieces, the land is broken up, the land is shaken Isa. xxiv 18-20;
besides elsewhere as Isa. xiv 32; xlviii 13; li 13; Ps. xxiv 2; cii 25 [H.B. 26]; civ 5, 6; 2 Sam. xxii 8, 16. He who does not think that 'the land' signifies the Church can think only in a purely natural manner, in fact materially, here where he reads 'the foundations of the land'. This is like what it would be if he did not think that 'the city Jerusalem' here signifies the Church, when he reads 'wall', 'gates', 'foundations', 'streets', its 'measurements' and more things besides that are described in this chapter as 'the city', when yet they are things of the Church, thus not to be understood materially but spiritually.
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