Thou hast said, I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand sides of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven Matt. xxvi 63, 64; Mark xiv 61, 62.

Also where the Lord speaks to the disciples about the consummation of the age, He said:-

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man, and they shall see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with vigour (virtus) and glory Matt. xxiv 30; Mark xiii 26.

By 'the clouds of heaven' in which He is going to come, nothing else is understood but the Word in the sense of the letter, and by 'the glory' in which they are going to see Him, the Word in the spiritual sense. That this is the case can scarcely be believed by those who do not think beyond the sense of the letter. With them, a cloud is a cloud, and as a result [there is] confidence that the Lord is going to make His appearance in the clouds of heaven while the last judgment is impending. This idea falls to the ground, however, when it is known what 'a cloud' is-that it is Divine Truth in ultimates, thus the Word in the sense of the letter. [2] Clouds appear in the spiritual world just as they do in the natural world; but the clouds in the spiritual world appear below the heavens among those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word, darker or brighter in accordance with the understanding of the Word and its reception at the same time. This is because the light of heaven there is Divine Truth, and darkness there is [composed of] untruths. Consequently bright clouds are the Divine Truth veiled over with appearances of truth, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in truths, while dark clouds are the Divine Truth covered all over with fallacies resulting from confirmed appearances, such as the Word in the letter is with those who are in untruths. I have often seen those clouds, and it has been plain whence and what they are. Now because the Lord, after the glorification of His Human, was made Divine Truth or the Word even in ultimates, He said to the high priest that 'from now on they were going to see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven'. [3] Moreover His saying to the disciples that 'in the consummation of the age the sign of the Son of Man was going to appear, and they were going to see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with vigour (virtus) and glory' signifies that, at the end of the Church when there is going to be a last judgment, He is going to make His appearance in the Word and reveal the spiritual sense. And this in fact has been accomplished, because now is the end of the Church, and the last judgment has been completed, as can be established from the little works recently published.** This, therefore, is what is understood here in the Apocalypse by 'Behold He is coming with clouds'; also in the following statements:-

I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sitting like unto the Son of Man Rev. xiv 14.

As also in Daniel:-

I was seeing (videns fui) in visions at night, and behold with clouds the Son of Man coming Dan. vii 13.

That by 'the Son of Man' is understood the Lord as to the Word may be seen [in] THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 19-28). [4] That also by 'clouds' elsewhere in the Word is understood Divine Truth in ultimates, and thence also the Word in the letter, can be seen from the passages there where 'clouds' are mentioned, as in these:-

There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, riding in heaven, and In magnificence upon the clouds Deut. xxxiii 26, 27.

Sing unto God, praise His Name, extol Him riding upon clouds Ps. lxviii 4 [H.B. 5].

Jehovah riding upon a light cloud Isa. xix 1.

'To ride upon the clouds' signifies to be in the wisdom of the Word, for a horse signifies the understanding of the Word. Who does not see that God does not ride upon the clouds? In like manner:-

God has ridden upon a cherub and pitched His tent-the clouds of the heavens Ps. xviii 10-12 [H.B. 11-13].

Cherubs also signify the Word, as maybe seen below (n. 239, 672). A 'tent' signifies a habitation.

[5] Jehovah joins the beams of His reclining-couches in the waters, He makes a cloud His chariot Ps. civ 3.

'Waters' signify truths, 'reclining-couches' signify doctrinals, and 'chariot' signifies doctrine. All of these are termed 'clouds' because they are [derived] from the sense of the letter of the Word. In like manner:-

He binds up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud is not broken under them; and He spreads His cloud over [His] seat Job xxvi 8, 9.

God caused the light of His cloud to shine Job xxxvii 15.

Ascribe strength unto God, strength upon the clouds Ps. lxviii 34 [H.B. 35].

The 'light of a cloud' signifies the Divine Truth of the Word, and 'strength' signifies the Divine power there.

[6] Thou, Lucifer, hast said in thine heart, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will become like the Most High Isa. xiv [13,] 14.

Forsake Babel, for she has lifted herself up even to the clouds Jer. li 9.

By 'Lucifer' and 'Babel' those are signified who profane the goods and truths of the Word, therefore these [goods and truths] are the things understood there by 'clouds'.

Jehovah spread a cloud for a covering Ps. cv 39.

Jehovah has created upon every dwelling-place of Zion a cloud by day, for [there is] a covering upon all the glory Isa. iv 5.

Here also by 'cloud' is understood the Word in the sense of the letter, which sense, since it includes and covers the spiritual sense, is called 'a covering upon the glory'. That the sense of the letter of the Word is a covering lest its spiritual sense should be injured may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 33), and that it is a guard (n. 97). [7] The Divine Truth in ultimates, which is like the Word in the sense of the letter, was also represented by the 'cloud' in which Jehovah descended upon mount Sinai and promulgated the Law (Exod. xix 9; xxxiv 5). Again [it was represented] by the 'cloud' that covered Peter, James and John, when Jesus was transformed, concerning which [we read] these [words]:-

While Peter yet spoke, behold a cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud saying, This is My beloved Son, hear Him Matt. xvii 5; Mark ix 7; Luke ix 34, 35.

The Lord in this transformation caused Himself to be seen as the Word, on account of which the cloud overshadowed them and the voice out of the cloud was heard [to say] that He is the Son of God. The 'voice out of the cloud' is out of the Word. That by 'cloud' in an opposite sense is understood the Word as to its sense of the letter falsified, will be seen elsewhere. * 'Of heaven' is not found in the Greek text of the Apocalypse. ** 'Concerning the Last Judgment etc.' (London, 1758) and 'Continuation concerning the Last Judgment etc.' (Amsterdam, 1763).