Accordingly, the Kabbalistic sages said it is impossible to ascend or receive except through Malchut. This indicates that it is impossible to gain any perception of the higher realms except in this way.
Part 2: Even the very forms of the images themselves... It is not enough to understand the attribute revealed through and represented by a given prophetic image. It is also necessary to understand why it is that the attribute in question has to be represented by this image in particular.
...provide knowledge of the wisdom with which the worlds are governed. For Malchut is the root of the lower realms, and it is necessary to understand the various ways in which it is connected with them and how they are rooted in it. Afterwards, when you see the lights (i.e. the upper Sefirot) as depicted in these images, you will then understand how any particular light must be drawn down into the lower worlds precisely in this guise as a result of the unique qualities inherent in Malchut. For example, the prophetic image of the lion represents Chessed or Abba. If you understand what a lion is by contemplating the form of a lion in the lower world, you will then understand why Chessed must be channeled by the Indwelling Presence into the lower worlds precisely in this manner. And this is why the earthly lion, which emerges from Malchut, is made in this form.