I mentioned above (209) that in the spiritual world precious stones are to be found just as in the natural one, and that they have a spiritual origin from the truths in the literal sense of the Word. Incredible as it may seem, this is in fact the truth. This is the reason why, every time there is a reference in the Word to precious stones, they mean in the spiritual sense truths, It follows from this that the precious stones, of which the foundations of the wall surrounding the city of the New Jerusalem are said to have been built, mean the truths of doctrine in the new church. For the New Jerusalem means the new church in respect of the doctrine it derives from the Word. Therefore its wall and the foundations of the wall must mean the external of the Word. This is its literal sense as the source of its doctrine, and by means of its doctrine the church. This sense is like a wall with its foundations, surrounding a city and making it secure.

[2] The description in Revelation of the New Jerusalem and its foundations is this:

The angel measured the wall of the city of Jerusalem as one hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, an angel. The wall had twelve foundations, decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. Rev. 21:15-20.

The reason why the wall had twelve foundations, made of the same number of precious stones, is that the number twelve means the whole of truth derived from good, so here the whole of doctrine. These matters, together with the preceding and following parts of that chapter, can be found expounded in detail, with confirmations drawn from parallel passages in the Prophets, in my book APOCALYPSE REVEALED.