1440. 'Abram went through the land as far as the place of Shechem' means the Lord's second state, when the celestial things of love became apparent to Him. This becomes clear from what has gone before and from the whole sequence of events in what has gone before, that He drew closer to and attained to the celestial things of love, meant by 'they came out to go into the land of Canaan' and by 'they came into the land of Canaan'; from the whole sequence of events, that after He had drawn closer to and attained to celestial things, these at that point became apparent to Him. Celestial things have the very light of the soul within them, because they have the Divine itself, that is, Jehovah Himself, within them. And because the Lord was to join the Human Essence to the Divine Essence when He attained to celestial things, it was inevitable that Jehovah should appear to Him.

Down" is used many different ways, and its spiritual meaning in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Phrases like "bowing down," "lying down" and "falling down" are defined primarily by "bowing," "lying" and "falling"; there is also a great difference between a person descending, the Lord sending fire from heaven and someone handling an object, to offer a few examples. In a very general sense, though, "down" indicates a lowering from more internal spiritual states to more external ones. That's why the journey is described as going "down" to Egypt from Canaan, and people from all quarters go "up" to Jerusalem. It's also why the Lord comes "down" to us, which generally indicates a state of judgment.