6463. 'And he gathered up his feet towards the bed' means that [spiritual good] turned itself - its lower things in which interior ones are present - towards the good and truth of the lower natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'gathering up the feet' as turning oneself towards lower things (when 'the feet' means lower things, 'gathering up' clearly means turning oneself towards; for 'the feet' are the things which compose the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, thus which are lower ones, 6436. The fact that lower things in which interior ones are present are meant is evident from what was stated above in 6451); and from the meaning of 'the bed' as the natural, dealt with in 6188, 6226, thus the good and truth of the natural since these make up a person's natural. The reason why the good and truth of the lower natural are meant is that this part of the natural, in accordance with the explanations given in 6451, 6452, is what interior things turn themselves towards. For the natural has a lower part and a higher one, or an interior part and an exterior one, see 3293, 3294, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649.

[2] Since 'Israel' represents spiritual good from the natural, and 'Jacob' spiritual truth in the natural, while 'his sons' represent forms of good and truths in the natural, divided into separate groups, the word bed is therefore used; for the natural is meant by it, 6188, 6226, as for example when it says here that, after he had finished speaking to his sons, he gathered up his feet towards the bed. Other examples of the usage occur where it says that, when Joseph came to him, Israel strengthened himself and sat on the bed, 6226, and also where it says that, after he had spoken to Joseph about burying him in the grave of his fathers, Israel bowed himself over the head of the bed, 6188. This also accounts for the following remarkable occurrence: When one thinks of Jacob a bed with a man lying on it is seen in the world of spirits. It is seen some distance away overhead, in front over on the right. The reason for its appearance is that an idea of Jacob in the mind is converted in heaven into an idea of the natural; for in heaven they do not perceive anything of Jacob but perceive that which is represented by him, namely the natural, which is also meant by 'the bed'.

6451. 'I am being gathered to my people' means that [spiritual good] will come to exist within the forms of good and the truths of the natural which spring from that good. This is clear from the representation of the sons of Israel and of the tribes named after them, to which 'his people' refers here, as forms of good and truths in the natural - dealt with in 3858, 3926, 3939, 5414, 5879, 5951, 6335, 6337 - which, it is self-evident, sprang from him; and from the meaning of 'being gathered to that people' as existing within those forms of good and truths. Since the subject here and in what follows is the gathering of spiritual good, which is 'Israel', that is, its coming to exist within the forms of good and the truths of the natural, which are 'his sons' or the tribes named after them, something must be said about how one is to understand all this.

[2] Within a person there is what is inmost; there are interior things beneath what is inmost; and there are exterior things. All these are utterly distinct and separate. They follow one after another in consecutive order, thus from what is inmost to what is outermost; and in accordance with that consecutive order there is also a flow from one into another. This being so, life flows in by way of what is inmost into the interior things, and by way of the interior things into the exterior ones, in accordance with the order in which they follow one another, and it does not come to rest except in what is last and lowest, where it is brought to a halt. And since interior things flow in accordance with order right through to what is last and lowest and are there brought to a halt, it is evident that interior things exist together within what is last and lowest. But they do so there in the following order: What is inmost and has flowed in occupies the central area; interior things, which are beneath what is inmost, encircle the central area; and exterior things are on the edge all the way round. This applies not merely in what is general and overall but also in every specific thing. The first kind of order is called consecutive order, whereas the second is called simultaneous order. The second arises from the first since everything simultaneous arises from what is consecutive, and then exists as it was when first brought into being.

[3] Because the interior things are also present all together in what is last and lowest, the appearance is that life exists in what is last and lowest, which is the body. The reality however is that it exists in interior things, yet not in them but in what is highest, which is the Lord, the Source of all life. This also explains why the life in the exterior things is obscure when compared with the life in the interior ones, for in exterior things the life is wholly general, the product of many, indeed countless elements that flow in from interior things, yet are seen all together as a general, single whole. All this now shows to some extent how one is to understand the idea that spiritual good, which is 'Israel', will come to exist within the forms of good and the truths of the natural, which are 'his sons' or 'the tribes'. For spiritual good, which is 'Israel', exists in the interior part of the natural, while the forms of good and the truths, which are 'his sons', exist in the exterior part of it. The idea that spiritual good will come to exist in them is meant by 'I am being gathered to my people'.