38. In heaven and in the world there are two kinds of order, a successive and a simultaneous order; in successive order one thing succeeds and follows after another, from the highest to the lowest; but in simultaneous order one thing exists side by side with another, from what is inmost to what is outmost. Successive order is like a column with steps from highest to lowest; while simultaneous order is like a work coherent in concentric circles from the centre even to the last surface. We will now state how successive order becomes in the ultimate or last form simultaneous order. It becomes so in this manner. The highest things of successive order become the inmost of simultaneous order, and the lowest things of successive order become the outmost of simultaneous order, just as if a column of steps were to sink down and form a coherent body in a plane. [2] Thus, the simultaneous is formed from the successive; and this is so in all things both in the natural and in the spiritual world, in general and in particular. For everywhere there is a first, a middle and a last, the first passing through the middle and proceeding to the last.
Apply this now to the Word. The celestial, the spiritual and the natural proceed from the Lord in successive order, and in the ultimate or last form they are in simultaneous order; thus, then, the celestial and the spiritual senses of the Word are simultaneously in its natural sense. When this is understood it may be seen how the natural sense of the word, which is the sense of the Letter, is the basis, the containant and the support of its spiritual and celestial senses; and also how the Divine Good and the Divine Truth are, in the sense of the Letter of the Word, in their fulness, their sanctity and their power.
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