Steps, ladder, chain, scale
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth..."
(Genesis 1: 1).
The story of the creation could be seen as a logical progression from light, to the waters, to the earth, to planets, to animals, and finally to humans. In this image there is an orderly progression upwards. This sense of order, and its consequent fixed hierarchy, were convenient for the stability of both church and state.