This is a beautiful question, because it's not only about the spiritual aspect of life, but about living a spiritual life -- where your practice and your daily life are not separate.
There is that beautiful adage, "the finger that points to the moon is not the moon," which seems specially relevant to your query.
Our minds can be harnessed like a magnifying glass into understanding phenomena. Since all phenomena share certain characteristics, by deeply understanding a fragment we can understand the whole.
The key is knowing where to look, what to focus on. This is why oral teachings and scriptural knowledge are so important, especially in any serious practice of the Buddha's teachings. We get our bearings, a basic "map with landmarks" that we can use to find our way around.
Language can be viewed a few ways; mainly as an expression of life, and also as a tool which we can use to help one another.
Ultimately, as you say, it is like a reflection. The "mirror of mind" can become apparent with steady practice and rigorous reflection. A good analogy to the words or language, the oral instructions that make this understanding possible might be: a key, or fine tuning, or two magnetized ends finally coalescing.
The words and teachings help unlock truth, which can be understood, and whereafter -- as you have said -- the words themselves seem hollow or insignificant in comparison to the actual experience of understanding.
That said, we must always be thankful for our stepping stones. You can climb up a ladder and see the view from the mountain top, which doesn't render the ladder useless, but if your truth was "ladder ladder ladder" and now it's "whoa! check out the view!" there can be a sense of disparity.
The truth is, all the teachings are skillful means for realizing the ultimate nature of reality -- actualizing an understanding that is beyond description. Buddha called it the deathless, among other descriptions, and although study and understanding of the words is very important, the actual experience is the intention.
Back to your question, ultimately the three Reality, Experience, and Information are inseparable. It may appear that the cliff and the sky are separate, but there is no gap in their continuity.