3476. From this one may now see what the situation is with the Word; for the Lord has given the Word to mankind, and also to angels, so that by means of it they may be with Him. Indeed the Word is the means by which earth is united to heaven, and heaven to the Lord, its literal sense being that which unites mankind to the first heaven. Now seeing that the literal sense holds within itself the internal sense, the subject of which is the Lord's kingdom, and the latter holds the highest sense, the subject of which is the Lord; and seeing that these senses exist in order one within the next, it is evident what the union with the Lord by means of the Word is like.