11. The seventh chapter in the book of Revelation tells us that one hundred and forty-four thousand [of the servants of God] were sealed, twelve thousand out of each tribe of Israel — out of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The spiritual meaning of this is that all people are saved who have the church in them from the Lord. For in the spiritual sense to be sealed or to have a mark placed on the forehead means, symbolically, to be acknowledged by the Lord and saved. The twelve tribes of Israel symbolize all people of the church. The numbers 12, 1,200, and 144,000 symbolically mean all people. Israel symbolizes the church. And each of the tribes symbolizes some particular aspect of the church.

People who are not aware of the spiritual content of these words may suppose that only that number of people are to be saved, and these solely from the Israelite and Jewish nations.

80. Every Single Constituent of the Word Contains a Marriage of the Lord and the Church, and So a Marriage of Goodness and Truth

The idea that every single constituent of the Word contains a marriage of the Lord and the church, and so a marriage of goodness and truth, is something not seen previously, nor could it have been seen, because the Word’s spiritual sense was not disclosed before, and the marriage can only be seen by means of that sense. For lying concealed within the Word’s literal sense are two other senses, a spiritual one and a celestial one. In the spiritual sense expressions in the Word relate mainly to the church, and in the celestial sense, mainly to the Lord. In the spiritual sense they relate also to Divine truth, and in the celestial sense to Divine goodness. Hence the aforesaid marriage in the Word’s literal sense.

But this marriage is not apparent to anyone unless he knows from the Word’s spiritual and celestial senses the symbolic meanings of the words and names. For some words and names refer to goodness, and some to truth, and some encompass both. Without that knowledge, therefore, the aforesaid marriage in every constituent of the Word cannot be seen.

It is for this reason that this arcanum has not been disclosed previously.