...which is the root of the lower realms. And for this reason, the beginning of form and likeness is found on the level of Malchut, which contains the very root of form and likeness. Accordingly, Malchut itself appears in the prophetic vision as the general category of a likeness or image. Malchut also acts as a “lens” or “looking glass” which shows the other Sefirot in the form of images or likenesses, because they can all be apprehended only through Malchut.
It is through Malchut that all are made in the form in which they are made. This means that only through Malchut can they be revealed and seen, and this is the reason why they all appear in the way they do in the prophetic vision. Malchut is like a lens or mirror, in which the form in which the objects standing before it appear depends upon its own intrinsic fitness and quality as a lens or mirror (polished, clear or unpolished, blurred, etc.)