5586. 'Unless your brother is with you' means unless the intermediary is with you. This is clear from the representation of 'Benjamin' as the intermediary, dealt with in 5411, 5413, 5443. The intermediary represented by 'Benjamin' serves as the link between the internal and the external, that is, between the spiritual man and the natural man; also, it is the truth of good that goes forth from truth from the Divine, represented by 'Joseph'. This truth of good is called the spiritual of the celestial - 'Benjamin' being the spiritual of the celestial, see 3969, 4592. A person's internal and external are completely distinct and separate from each other; for his internal dwells in the light of heaven, his external in the light of the world. And being completely distinct and separate they cannot be joined together except through the intermediary which derives its existence from both of them.

770. 'Noah's wife' means the Church itself, and 'the three wives of his sons with them' the derivative Churches themselves. This is clear from what has been stated, that is to say, when the member of the Church is mentioned by name, the all of the Church is meant, or as it is called, the head of the Church. 'Wife' in that case is the Church, as shown already in 252, 253. It is different when 'man and wife' or 'male and female' are mentioned in the Word. In that case 'man' and 'male' mean things of the understanding, which are the truths of faith, while 'wife' and 'female' mean things of the will, which are the goods of faith.