To go out, as in Genesis 28:10, signifies to live more remotely. To go out to meet, as in Genesis 14:17, signifies to submit themselves. To go out and to come in, as in Zechariah 8:10, signifies the states of life from beginning to end.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 1721; Exodus 10, 28)

1721. That 'the king of Sodom went out to meet him' means that the evil and falsity submitted to Him is clear from the meaning of 'the king of Sodom' as the evil and falsity against which the conflict took place, and from the meaning of 'going out to meet' as submitting. Mention is made here of the king of Sodom because of this point occurring in the sequence of thought, that the evil and falsity submitted themselves to Him; but that king is not specifically the subject until verse 21 below.