The stories in the Old Testament foreshadow future events -- not so much historical events, but changes in the spiritual states of humankind.

In the inner meaning, the story of Jacob, and his twelve sons, and Joseph and his dreams, deals with people's eventual rejection of the Divine truths that they would receive from the Lord in the Christian church, and their acceptance of falsities instead.

Specifically, this chapter is about the way that some theologians in the Christian church developed the idea of salvation by faith alone, when the Lord really wants us to conjoin faith and charity in our lives.

This seems like a stretch - that a story from 3500+ years ago could be foreshadowing modern theological arguments. And yet, human beings, as partly-spiritual creatures, are always players in a big, long spiritual story - and the Old Testament stories are archetypes for things we wrestle with in our own lives. For the details of this story's meaning, look at Arcana Coelestia 4665, and the following passages.

Here is an excerpt from Swedenborg's "Arcana Coelestia" that helps start explain the inner meaning of this chapter:

"The subject treated of in this chapter in the internal sense is the Divine truths which are from the Lord‘s Divine Human, that in course of time they have been rejected in the church, and that at last falsities have been received in their stead. Specifically, those are described who are in faith separate from charity, in that they are against the Lord’s Divine Human." AC 4665.

4666. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-3 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, a son of seventeen years, was pasturing the flock with his brothers; and he, still a boy, was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's womenfolk; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, for he was the son of his old age; and he made him a tunic of various colours.

'Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan' means the Lord's Divine Natural, which existed in accord with and beneath Divine Rational Good. 'These are the generations of Jacob' means the things that follow. 'Joseph' means the Lord's Spiritual [from His] Divine Human. 'A son of seventeen years' means His state. 'Was pasturing the flock with his brothers' means its presence among those governed by faith who were teachers. 'And he, still a boy' means at first. 'Was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's womenfolk' means that he was cast away from them. 'And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father' means that this showed up the essential nature of those people. 'And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons' means a joining of the Divine Spiritual of the Rational to the Divine Spiritual of the Natural. 'For he was the son of his old age' means its own life within it. 'And he made him a tunic of various colours' means the resulting appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished.