781. "And merchandise of horses, and wagons, and the bodies and souls of people." This symbolically means that all of these things depend on an understanding of the Word and on doctrine drawn from it, and on the goods and truths in the Word's literal sense, which these Roman Catholics do not possess, because they have falsified and adulterated the Word by using the things in it contrary to their real meaning in order to gain dominion over heaven and the world.

The valuables here follow the preposition "of," because they involve all of the things that go before. That horses symbolize an understanding of the Word may be seen in no. 298. Chariots symbolize doctrine from the Word (no. 437); consequently so do wagons. The bodies and souls of people symbolize goods and truths in the literal sense of the Word, because they have the same symbolism as the body and blood in the Holy Supper. The body in that supper symbolizes the Lord's Divine goodness, and the blood the Lord's Divine truth; and because of this symbolism they also symbolize the Divine good and truth in the Word, because the Lord embodies the Word.

Instead of blood, however, the text here says souls. That is because the soul likewise symbolizes truth (see no. 681 above), and because blood in the Word is called the life or soul (Genesis 9:4-5). "Human lives" in Ezekiel 27:13 has a similar symbolic meaning. So does the "seed of men" in Daniel 2:43.

[2] Horses and wagons have a similar symbolic meaning in Isaiah:

Then they shall bring all your brethren... on horses and in chariots and in wagons, and on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem... (Isaiah 66:20)

This is said of the Lord's New Church, which Jerusalem is, regarding people in it who have an understanding of the Word and doctrine derived from it, which are the horses, chariots, and wagons.

Now because these people of the Roman Catholic religion falsify and adulterate the Word by using it to gain dominion over heaven and the world, the symbolic meaning here is that they do not possess any goods and truths from the Word, and so do not have any in their doctrine either.

Regarding this Jeremiah says the following:

...the king of Babylon has devoured me, has thrown me into confusion; He has made me an empty vessel; He has swallowed me up like a whale; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies... (Jeremiah 51:34-35)

A sword is against the horses (of Babylon), against her chariots, and... against her treasures, so that they are plundered. A drought is upon her waters, so that they are dried up. For the land is one of carved images, and they boast of their dreadful deeds. (Jeremiah 50:37-38)

Gold means good, and just as gold was the most precious metal known to ancient mankind so it represents the good of the highest and wisest of the angels. These angels foremostly love the Lord, and because they do they act from that love at all times. So the things they do are from love or as the writings for the new church often say, their acts are "goods of love". This is what gold represents. As soon as God planted the garden of Eden, He created a river in it, to water it. This river went out and branched into four, the first branch mentioned, Pishon, encompassed the "…land of Havilah, where there is gold… and the gold…is good". Another mention of gold comes in Exodus where the Lord is telling Moses how to make the Tabernacle. If you pay attention you will see that inside the tabernacle the main thing you see is gold, the boards of the wall are covered with it and all the furniture is either wood covered completely with gold, or is made of solid gold. Then at the end of the Word the holy city descends from God and it is made of gold, "gold like unto clear glass" good of love that can be clearly and completely understood. And it has its river. This is a promise from the Lord that we can come into a state similar to that of the garden of Eden, if we follow Him so as to come into love for Him, and act from that love.