493. That he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne, signifies the conjunction of the heavens with those who are to be separated from the evil and saved. This is evident from the signification of "offering incense with prayers," as being to conjoin the good of the higher heavens by means of truths with those who are in worship from spiritual good (of which presently); also from the signification of "all the saints," as being those who are in good by means of truths, thus who are in spiritual good; that these are called "saints" may be seen above (n. 204); again, from the signification of "the golden altar," as being the heaven where there is spiritual good, for the altar upon which incense was offered was called "the golden altar;" again, from the signification of "before the throne," as being conjunction with heaven, "to be before the throne" signifies that conjunction, as may be seen above (n. 462, 477, 489). [2] That these words signify the conjunction of the heavens with those who are to be separated from the evil and saved, can be seen from the series of things in the internal sense, and from the connection of what goes before with what is now said and with what follows, and also from the signification of the words in the internal sense. For this and the following chapters treat of the last state of the church, or its state when its end has come and the judgment is at hand; but before this state is described, the separation of those who were to be saved is treated of, who are all such as are meant by "those sealed on their foreheads," and by "those clothed in white robes" who were treated of in the preceding chapter. Because these were at that time associated in societies with those who were to be damned, in this chapter the means by which they were separated and saved are described, namely, that the higher heavens were first closely conjoined with the Lord by Divine influx into celestial good, and through that into spiritual good, and afterwards by Divine influx through these goods, conjoined into one, into the lower regions where those who were to be saved and those who were to be damned were together in societies. This influx of the Lord out of the higher heavens was received by those who in the world had lived in good, for that good continued with them, therefore by means of that good they were conjoined to the higher heavens, and thus separated from those who were unable to receive the influx, because they had not lived in good but in evil while they were in the world. [3] This also is what is meant by the Lord's words in the Gospels: