43. Truths in the Word’s literal sense are meant by the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21. This follows from the fact that the New Jerusalem means a new church in respect to doctrine, as shown in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord 62, 63. Its wall, therefore, and the foundations of the wall, can only mean the outer component of the Word, which is its literal sense; for that is the origin of doctrine, and through doctrine, the church. Moreover, doctrine is like a wall which, with its foundations, surrounds a city and protects it.

Respecting the wall of the New Jerusalem and its foundations, we read in the book of Revelation the following:

(The angel) measured (the city Jerusalem’s) wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, (which was) the measure of a person, that is, of an angel. (Revelation 21:17)

And the wall had twelve foundations, “adorned with all kinds of precious stones”:

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 jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. (Revelation 21:19-20)

The number 144 symbolizes all the truths and goods of the church drawn from the Word’s literal sense, and so does the number 12. A person symbolizes intelligence; an angel, Divine truth from which that intelligence originates; measuring, their character; the wall and its foundations, the Word’s literal sense; and precious stones, the Word’s truths and goods in their sequence, from which doctrine originates, and through doctrine, the church.

45. Truths in the Word’s literal sense are meant by the precious stones in the Garden of Eden in which the King of Tyre is said in Ezekiel to have been. We read in Ezekiel:

...King of Tyre..., “You seal up (your) measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, chrysoprase, and emerald, and gold. (Ezekiel 28:12-13)

Tyre in the Word symbolizes concepts of truth and goodness. A king symbolizes the church’s truth. The Garden of Eden symbolizes wisdom and intelligence gained from the Word. Precious stones symbolize truths made translucent by goodness, the kind of truths found in the Word’s literal sense. And because these truths are symbolized by the precious stones, therefore they are called the king’s covering. That the literal sense covers over the inner constituents of the Word may be seen in the preceding section.