The Literal Sense of the Word is the Basis, the Containant, and Foundation of its Spiritual and Celestial Senses

In everything Divine there is a first, a mediate, and an ulti­mate or last; and the first passes through the mediate to the ultimate, and so exists and subsists; the ultimate therefore is the BASIS. Then the first is in the mediate, and by the mediate in the ultimate; so that the ultimate is the CONTAINANT; and since the ultimate is the containant and the basis, it is also the FOUNDATION. The learned reader will understand that these three may be called the end, the cause, and the effect; and also the Being, Becoming, and Existing; and that the end is Being, the cause Becoming, and the effect Existing; consequently, that in every complete thing there is a trine, which is called the first, the mediate, and the ultimate; also the end, the cause, and the effect. When these points are understood it will also be understood that every Divine work is complete and perfect in the ultimate; and also that all is in the ultimate, because the prior things are together in it. (TCR n. 210)

There are three heavens the highest, the middle, and the lowest. The highest heaven constitutes the Lord’s celestial kingdom; the middle heaven forms His spiritual kingdom; and the lowest heaven, His natural kingdom. And just as there are three heavens, there are also three senses of the Word,—the celes­tial, the spiritual, and the natural; with which also those things coincide which were said above,—that is to say, that the first is in the mediate, and by the mediate in the ultimate; just as the end is in the cause, and by the cause in the effect. From this the nature of the Word is clear,—namely, that within the sense of its letter, which is natural, there is an interior sense which is spiritual, and within this an inmost sense which is celestial; and thus that the ultimate sense, which is natural, and is called the sense of the letter, is the containant, and so the basis and foundation of the two interior senses. (TCR n. 212)