10605. And be thou ready against the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai. That this signifies a new beginning of the revelation of Divine truth, is evident from the signification of “morning,” as being a rising state or beginning, here a new beginning (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “Mount Sinai,” as being heaven from which comes Divine truth, thus from which comes revelation (see n. 8805, 8931, 9420). That “morning” denotes a rising state or beginning, is because all times signify states, for the reason that in heaven time is not thought of, but only changes of state in respect to the affections and derivative thoughts, and also because the changes of state there are like the times of the day, which are morning, noon, evening, and night; and the morning is that from which they begin. It may seem strange that in heaven there are no times, when yet they live there one with another like men in the world; nevertheless with a difference in respect to intelligence, wisdom, and happiness. But the reason is that the light there from the sun, which is the Lord, does not undergo daily alternations like the light from the sun in the world, but is varied in accordance with the states of love and faith with the angels, which states undergo alternations like the states of heat, of light, and of shade every day in the earth. The reason of this is that the light from the sun there, which is the Lord, is Divine truth; and the heat from that sun is love, with which the angels are affected as are men with the state of light and heat in the world. (That the light in heaven is from the Lord as a sun there, may be seen at the places cited in n. 9548, 9684: That this light is the Divine truth from which angels and men have intelligence and wisdom, see the places cited in n. 9548, 9571, 9684, 10569: That times signify states, see the places cited in n. 10133: That in heaven states vary like the times of day and year in the world, n. 5962, 8426: That “morning” denotes the beginning of these states, thus a new beginning, n. 8427, 10114: And that in heaven there is a state of evening and twilight, but not a state of night, n. 6110)

4598. And Israel journeyed. That this means the celestial spiritual of the natural at this time, is evident from the signification of “journeying,” as being what is successive or continuous (see n. 4375, 4554), here more toward interior things; and from the representation of “Israel” here, as being the celestial spiritual of the natural (n. 4286). What the celestial spiritual of the natural is, has been explained before, namely, that it is the good of truth, or the good of charity procured by means of the truth of faith. What advancement toward interior things is, is little known in the world. It is not an advancement into memory-knowledges, for this frequently exists without any advancement toward interior things, and very frequently with a departure from them. Neither is it an advancement into the judgment of manhood, for this also sometimes exists together with a departure from interior things. Nor is it an advancement into knowledges of interior truth, for these knowledges avail nothing unless the man is affected with them. An advancement toward interior things is an advancement toward heaven and the Lord by means of the knowledges of truth implanted in the affection of them, thus by means of affections.

[2] What is the nature of an advancement toward interior things is not apparent to anyone in this world; but in the other life it is plainly apparent, for there it is an advancement from a kind of mist into light, because they who are in exterior things alone are relatively in a mist, and by the angels are seen to be in one; whereas they who are in interior things are in light, and consequently are in wisdom, for the light there is wisdom; and wonderful to say, they who are in a mist cannot see those who are in light as in light, but they who are in light can see those who are in a mist as in a mist. As the subject here treated of is the advancement of the Lord’s Divine toward interior things, Jacob is here called “Israel,” but at other times he is called “Jacob,” as in the preceding verse of this chapter, and in the last verse.