Arcana Coelestia # 4482
4482. 'Behold, the land is broad and spacious before them' means extension, that is to say, of truth which is the truth of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land' as the Church, dealt with just above in 4480, and from the meaning of 'broad and spacious' as extension as regards truths, and so as regards those taught by doctrine. When in the Word the measurements of something are given, it is not those measurements that are meant in the internal sense but the essential characteristics of a state that is being described. For measurements involve spatial dimensions and in the next life there are no intervals of space, as there are no periods of time, but states which correspond to these, see 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 3404, 4321. That being so, lengths, breadths, and heights, which are spatial measurements, mean the aspects of a state - length meaning holiness, height good, and breadth truth, see 650, 1613, 3433, 3434. This then is why 'the land is broad and spacious' means the extension of truth which is the truth of doctrine within the Church.
[2] Anyone who does not know of the existence of anything spiritual in the Word other than that which stands out in the literal sense is bound to be amazed by the statement that 'the land is broad and specious' means the extension of truth which is the truth of doctrine within the Church. But the truth of this statement may be established from places where 'breadth' is mentioned in the Word, as in Isaiah,
Asshur will go through Judah, it will deluge it and pass through and will reach even to the neck; and the outstretchings of its wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isaiah 8:8.
In David,
O Jehovah, You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Psalms 31:8.
In the same author,
Out of my distress I called on Jah; He answered me in a broad place. Psalms 118:5.
In Habakkuk,
I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching' into the breadths of the earth. Habakkuk 1:6.
'Breadths' here means nothing other than the truth of the Church.
[3] The reason why breadth has this meaning is that in the spiritual world, that is, in heaven, the Lord is the centre of all, for He is the Sun there. Those in a state of good are more interior, their exact position towards the middle being determined by the character and the amount of the good present in them. This is why 'height' is used in reference to good. Those who are in a similar degree of good are also in a similar degree of truth, and so dwell so to speak at the same distance from the centre, or one might say, dwell on the same contour; and this is why 'breadth' is used in reference to truths. Therefore when a person reads the Word the angels present with him do not understand by 'breadth' anything other than truths. When in the Historical sections, for example, the ark, the altar, the temple, and the spaces outside cities are referred to, states of good and truth are perceived by the dimensions indicating the lengths, breadths, and heights of these. The same is so with the new earth, new Jerusalem, and new Temple - described in Chapters 40-47 of Ezekiel - by which heaven and a new Church are meant, as may be seen from the detailed descriptions in those chapters. So also in John where it is said of the New Jerusalem that it will be foursquare, 'its length being as great as its breadth', Revelation 21:16.
[4] Things which in the spiritual world are interior are described as those that are higher, while those that are exterior are described by those that are lower, 2148, for while in the world, no one can conceive of interior things and exterior ones in any other way, for the reason that he dwells within space and time, and things that belong to space and time have entered in among the ideas comprising his thought and have conditioned the majority of these. From this it is also evident that expressions which give the spatial measurements of things such as the height, length, and breadth of them, are in the spiritual sense expressions used to indicate the magnitude of affections for good and affections for truth.
Genesis 22
1
It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."
2
He said, "Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of."
3
Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.
4
On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.
5
Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you."
6
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.
7
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8
Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together.
9
They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
10
Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
11
The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."
12
He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
13
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14
Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, "On Yahweh's mountain, it will be provided."
15
The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,
16
and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17
that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.
18
In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
19
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.
20
It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21
Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
22
Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."
23
Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24
His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
