Evening, a time when the light and heat are fading away, represents a state in which a person -- or a community of people -- is turning away from the Lord, with little desire left to be good and little knowledge left regarding what good is. Evening is often a time of judgment.

In Genesis 19:1, the evening signifies the visitation that comes before judgment. (Arcana Coelestia 2318)

In Genesis 30:16, this signifies the good or truth in a state of good, but in the obscurity that is characteristic of the natural. (Arcana Coelestia 3949)

2317. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verse 1 And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. And Lot saw and rose up to meet them, and bowed down with his face towards the ground.

'The two angels came to Sodom in the evening' means the visitation which takes place prior to judgement, 'the two angels' meaning the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding, to which judgement belongs; 'Sodom' meaning the evil, especially those inside the Church; 'evening' meaning the time when visitation takes place. 'And Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom' means those people with whom the good of charity exists but whose worship is external - people represented by 'Lot' here - who are among and yet separated from the evil, which is meant by his 'sitting in the gateway of Sodom'. 'And Lot saw' means their conscience. 'And he rose up to meet them' means acknowledgement, and a feeling of charity. 'And bowed down with his face towards the ground' means humiliation.