That all the holiness of the Word resides in its literal sense, and that there is no holiness in its spiritual meaning apart from the literal sense.... That the spiritual meaning apart from the literal meaning would be like a house without a foundation, thus like a house in the air.... That it would be like the human body without skin, all of whose constituents would fall apart.... That as the interior parts of the body all have a connection with the peritoneum, pleura and skin, so does the spiritual meaning with the literal meaning.... That without the literal meaning the spiritual meaning would be like contents without a container, thus like wine without a vessel to contain it....

The case is the same with spiritual things apart from natural things, or with angels in heaven and their wisdom apart from the human race and the church here and its intelligence drawn from the literal meaning. The literal meaning of the Word in the minds of people forms that connection and that conjunction.

This, too, was the reason the Lord came into the world, for the Jews had falsified the literal meaning entirely, so that an outmost vessel no longer existed in minds of people. Therefore the Lord came into the world and put on a humanity, in order to become also the Word in its literal meaning, or Divine truth in outmost elements. That is why it is said that the Word was made flesh (John 1:14).

[2] The case is the same with respect to the power of Divine truth. Divine truth emanating from the Lord has all power in the spiritual world. What the power of Divine truth is like there can be illustrated by many examples from personal experience. (Cite a number of examples relating to this experience.) Moreover, the power of Divine truth rests entirely in the literal meaning of the Word. The spiritual meaning has no power in it apart from the literal meaning, but only in the literal meaning in which the spiritual meaning resides. Therefore when spirits present something from the literal meaning, a clear communication with heaven takes place, but not if they present something from the spiritual meaning apart from the literal meaning.

[3] That consequently all responses from heaven have been made and continue to be made through such things as are in the literal meaning.... Therefore the literal meaning was represented by the urim and thummim on the ephod of Aaron,** the ephod having been the outmost garment. Therefore in the book of Revelation the foundations of the New Jerusalem are described as having consisted of twelve precious stones, and its gates of pearls,*** which likewise symbolized the literal meaning. So, too, the cherubim over the mercy seat symbolized that meaning, which is why Moses and Aaron received responses from between the cherubim.****

[4] Concerning the order in which the interior degrees of Divine truth are arranged, from which angels have their wisdom , namely concurrent order.... Therefore the literal meaning is the containing vessel.

[5] On the need, therefore, to verify everything in the doctrine of the church by the literal meaning of the Word-and anything in the doctrine which is not verified from the literal meaning of the Word does not have any power. A doctrinal teaching whose genuine truth is verified by the literal meaning has power. An appearance of Divine truth also has power-but less so-to the degree that it can be harmonized with genuine truth. On the other hand, when the literal meaning of the Word is falsified, it has no power. It closes heaven rather than opening it. * The remaining numbers, 20-26, were written later, partly in the form of notes. See Translator's Remarks. ** See Exodus 28:1-30, Leviticus 8:7-8. *** Revelation 21:19-21. **** See Exodus 25:17-22, Numbers 7:89. Cf. Exodus 37:6-9, 1 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 6:2, 2 Kings 19:14-15, Psalms 80:1, 99:1, Isaiah 37:16.