6417. Joseph is the son of a fruitful one. That this signifies the spiritual church, in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, in the internal sense the spiritual kingdom and the good of faith, and in the external sense fruitfulness and multiplication (see n. 3969, 3971); and because “Joseph” denotes the fruitfulness of good and the multiplication of truth, he is called the “son of a fruitful one.” By “Joseph” is here described the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, and above by “Judah” His celestial kingdom; for there are two kingdoms which constitute heaven, the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial kingdom constitutes the inmost or third heaven; the spiritual kingdom, the middle or second heaven. To the spiritual kingdom the Lord appears as a moon; but to the celestial kingdom as a sun (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 4060). It is said that by Joseph in the supreme sense is represented the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, but the case is this. The Lord is nothing else than Divine good; that which proceeds from His Divine good and flows into heaven, in His celestial kingdom is called the “Divine celestial,” and in His spiritual kingdom the “Divine spiritual;” thus the Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual are so called relatively to the receptions.

1053. And the bow shall be in the cloud. That this signifies man’s state, is evident from what has been said and shown above concerning the bow in the cloud, namely, that a man or a soul in the other life is known among angels from his sphere, and that this sphere, whenever it pleases the Lord, is represented by colors, like those of the rainbow, in variety according to the state of each person relatively to faith in the Lord, thus relatively to the goods and truths of faith. In the other life colors are presented to view which from their brightness and resplendence immeasurably surpass the beauty of the colors seen on earth; and each color represents something celestial and spiritual. These colors are from the light of heaven, and from the variegation of spiritual light, as said above. For angels live in light so great that the light of the world is nothing in comparison. The light of heaven in which angels live, in comparison with the light of the world, is as the noonday light of the sun in comparison with candlelight, which is extinguished and becomes a nullity on the rising of the sun. In heaven there are both celestial light and spiritual light. Celestial light—to speak comparatively—is like the light of the sun, and spiritual light is like the light of the moon, but with every difference according to the state of the angel who receives the light. It is the same with the colors, because they are from the light. The Lord Himself is to the heaven of the celestial angels a Sun, and to the heaven of the spiritual angels, a Moon. These things will not be credited by those who have no conception of the life which souls live after death, and yet they are most true.