10549. 'And so it was, when Moses went out to the tent, that all the people rose and stood, [each] at the door of [his] tent' means that that nation did not abide in the external aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship, but outside it. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in the places referred to in 9372; from the meaning of 'the tent' as the holiness of worship, the Church, and the Word, dealt with above in 10545; and from the meaning of 'rising and standing in front of the door of the tent' as standing outside it. For 'the door' means entrance, introduction, and communication, 2145, 2152, 8989, and therefore 'standing in front of it' means not going in, being introduced, and being communicated.

2145. 'He was sitting at the tent door' means the holiness which existed with Him at that time, namely the holiness of love, which is meant by 'as the day was getting warmer', dealt with in what follows next. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tent' as holiness, dealt with in 414, 1102, 1566. And for the reason why 'tents' meant forms of holiness, see the same paragraphs. Since the Lord at this time had the perception meant by the oak-groves of Mamre, which is a lower rational perception, yet more interior than that meant by the oak-grove of Moreh, dealt with in 1442, 1443, it is here represented and so is meant by his sitting at the tent door, that is, at the entrance to holiness. As regards perceptions being more interior or less interior, this may be illustrated from the perceptions which the most ancient people had. From these people I have heard that the more they were immersed in mere facts acquired from the objects of hearing and sight the lower their perceptions became; but the more they were raised up from them towards the celestial things of charity and love the more interior these perceptions became, as they were then closer to the Lord.