8732. And he went to himself unto his own land. That this signifies to the Divine Itself, is evident from the signification of “going unto his own land,” as being to the former state, thus to the Divine. Moreover by “land” in the internal sense is signified the church, and also heaven; therefore in the supreme sense is signified the Divine. (That by “land” in the internal sense is signified the church, thus also the kingdom of the Lord in heaven, see n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011.) That by “land” in the supreme sense is signified the Divine, is because Jethro represented the Divine good, thus the Divine Itself, the returning whereto cannot otherwise be expressed in the historic sense of the letter than by “going unto his own land.” For the significatives in the Word accommodate themselves to the thing represented, the signification which properly belongs to the expression still remaining, as for instance the signification of “land,” which properly signifies the church, for the reason that they who are in heaven do not think of land when it is read of in the Word, but of the spiritual state of the nation which is in the land, thus of the religion there; and therefore when a “land” is read of where the church is, then they have an idea of the church there; and when an idea of the church, they have also an idea of the Lord’s kingdom, consequently of heaven; and when an idea of heaven, they have also an idea of the Divine there. But when the thing represented treats of any other holy thing in the church or in heaven, then that thing can be understood by “land”—as love, charity, good, faith. Hence it is evident that the signification still remains which properly belongs to the expression; as when good is signified, or love or charity, still through all there remains the signification of the church; for these things are the essentials of the church, and make it to be the church.

1437. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. That this signifies that He thus advanced to the celestial things of love, is evident from the signification of “the land of Canaan.” That the land of Canaan represents the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and on earth, is evident from many things in the Word. The reason is that the Representative Church was instituted there, in which all things both in general and in particular represented the Lord and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom. Not only were the rites representative, but everything connected with them, as well the persons who ministered, as the things by which they ministered, and also the places of the ministration. As the Representative Church was there, the land was called the Holy Land, although it was anything but holy, for it was inhabited by the idolatrous and the profane. This then is the reason why by “the land of Canaan,” here and in what follows, are signified the celestial things of love; for the celestial things of love, and these alone, are in the Lord’s kingdom, and constitute His Kingdom.