The Cosmic Trinity

>The acorn is a kind of tree-egg in this instance, and the knowledge is water and sun. We are the chicken inside the egg, but also the dirt. The knowledge from the Scrolls is what we push against to become full-sighted ourselves. One final imagining before your mind closes from the shock of ever-knowing. You are now a flame burning bright blue within a vast emptiness. In time you see your brothers and sisters, burnings of their own in the distance and along your side. A sea of pinpoints, a constellation of memories. Each burns bright, then flickers. Then two more take its place but not forever lest the void fills with rancid light that sucks the thought. -Septimus Signus, Ruminations on the Elder Scrolls

Vivec's Scripture of the Numbers is probably the most concise account of the metaphysical evolution of the universe available to mortals. Although filled with vivid imagery which could be expanded upon in depth, the symbols occupying spaces 28, 29, and 30 seem to especially shine with significance. The Drowned Lamp, the Captive Sage, and the Scarab are all figures associated with crushing pressure and depth.

The Drowned Lamp is a symbol of fire in the deep, light surrounded by void, a star surrounded by the vast reaches of space. It's a symbol of beginnings: after the last speck of earthbone disappears into Alduin's mighty gullet, the first breath-shout of flame in the void signals the beginning of the new kalpa.

The Captive Sage is a symbol of a soul completely isolated from the world. He shares the weight of his starry sister but can emit none of her warmth or light. He is the god of the impenetrable shell, the eternal guardian of the Ghostgate who was himself trapped inside his own temple by the end. The Captive Sage is imprisoned in the corpse of the Ruddy Man, which has a demonic monstrous force constantly trying to escape from it. By sacrificing his freedom, the sage removes the monster from the world and preserves sanity and righteousness.

Meanwhile, the Scarab laid his eggs in the center of the world in forgotten ages, and they are just beginning to reach maturation. The Scarab is a symbol of the end of the world, or more accurately a tool (weapon? machine?) which allows the world to be ended. When the secret to breaking down magic was accidentally revealed to Vivec, Sotha Sil took notice immediately and began to study how such a phenomenon could be reproduced. Vivec only forbade his brother from using such weapons in the middle world.