8890. 'You shall not do any work - you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your male slave, nor your female slave, nor your beast, nor your sojourner who is within your gates' means that at that time heaven and its blessedness are present in every single part of a person inwardly and outwardly. This is clear from the meaning of 'not doing any work' as rest and peace, thus heaven, for when a person is in heaven he is free from all apprehensiveness, uneasiness, and anxiety, and when free from these, blessedness is his; and from the meaning of 'you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your beast, and the sojourner within your gates' as every single part of a person inwardly and outwardly. For 'you' means the person himself, 'son' means his understanding, and 'daughter' his will, both of which reside in his internal man. 'Male slave' means his natural in respect of truth, and 'female slave' his natural in respect of good, thus both as they reside in his external man, while 'beast' means affection in general, and 'sojourner within the gates' factual knowledge in general. Thus every single part is meant. 'Son' means his understanding here because 'son' means truth, and truths constitute the understanding; and 'daughter' means his will because 'daughter' means good, and forms of good constitute the will. For the meaning of 'son' as truth, and so the understanding, see 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257; for 'daughter' as good, and so the will, 489-491, 2362, 3024; for 'male slave' as the natural in respect of truth, 3019, 3020, 3409, 5305, 7998; for 'female slave' as the natural in respect of good, 2567, 3835, 3849; for 'beast' as affection in general, 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 2179, 2180, 3218, 5198, 7523, 7872; and for 'sojourner' as one who receives instruction in the Church's truths, 1463, 4444, 8007, 8013, so that 'the sojourner within your gates' is factual knowledge in general, since factual knowledge in general lies within the gates, that is, at the entrance to the truths the Church possesses.

1048. 'And the bow is seen in the cloud' means when man is still such as to be able to be regenerated. This is clear from the meaning of 'the bow in the cloud' which is a sign or token of regeneration, as stated already. Concerning the bow in the cloud there is more to be said: The character of a person, that is, of a soul, after the body has died is known in an instant. The Lord has known that character from eternity, and knows what it is going to be into eternity. A person's character is perceived by angels the moment he comes near; a certain sphere so to speak emanates from his whole disposition, that is, from every part of him. And this sphere, astonishing though it may seem, is such that from it one perceives what faith and what charity exist with him from whom it emanates. When it pleases the Lord it is that sphere which is made visible as a bow. This sphere will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described later on. From this it becomes clear what is meant here by 'the bow when it is seen in the cloud', namely when a person is such that he can be regenerated.