897. Verse 11. Having the glory of God; and her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, shining like crystal, signifies that in that church the Word will be understood, because translucent from its spiritual sense. By "the glory of God" is signified the Word in its Divine light, as will be seen presently; by "its light" is signified the Divine truth therein, for this is meant by light in the Word (n. 796, 799); like a stone most precious, like a jasper stone, "shining like crystal," signifies the same shining and translucent from its spiritual sense, of which also in what follows. By these words is described the understanding of the Word with those who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and in a life according to it. With these the Word shines as it were when it is read; it shines from the Lord by means of the spiritual sense, because the Lord is the Word, and the spiritual sense is in the light of heaven which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and the light which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, is in its essence the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom. That in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense, in which the angels are, and from which their wisdom is derived, and that the Word is translucent from the light of that sense to those who are in genuine truths from the Lord, is shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture. [2] That by "the glory of God" is meant the Word in its Divine light, may appear from the following passages:
The Word was made flesh, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father (John 1:14). That by "glory" is meant the glory of the Word or the Divine truth in Him, is evident, because it is said "the Word was made flesh"; the same is meant by "glory" in what follows, where it is said:
The glory of God did lighten it, and its lamp is the Lamb (John 1:23). The same is meant by:
The glory in which they will see the Son of man when He shall come in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26). See above (n. 22, 642, 820); nor is anything else meant by:
The throne of glory upon which the Lord will sit when He shall come to the Last Judgment (Mat. 25:31);
because He will judge everyone according to the truths of the Word; wherefore it is also said that "He will come in His glory." When the Lord was transfigured, it is also said that:
Moses and Elias appeared in glory (Luke 9:30-31). By "Moses and Elias" is there signified the Word; the Lord also then caused Himself to be seen by the disciples as the Word in its glory. That "glory" signifies the Divine truth, may be seen from many passages of the Word above (n. 629). [3] The reason why the Word is compared to "a stone most precious, like a jasper stone, shining like crystal," is because "a precious stone" signifies the Divine truth of the Word (n. 231, 540, 726, 823), and "a jasper stone" signifies the Divine truth of the Word in the sense of the letter, translucent from the Divine truth in the spiritual sense; this is the signification of "a jasper stone" (in Exod. 28:20; Ezek. 28:13), and afterwards in this chapter, where it is said that "the structure of the wall" of the Holy Jerusalem was "jasper" (verse 18); and since the Word in the sense of the letter is translucent from its spiritual sense, it is said, "a jasper shining like crystal," all enlightenment, which they have who are in Divine truths from the Lord, is thence.
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