'Wilderness' signifies something with little life in it, as described in the internal sense in Luke 1:80 'Wilderness' signifies somewhere there is no good because there is no truth. 'Wilderness,' as in Jeremiah 23:10, signifies the Word when it is adulterated.

(Verweise: Arcana Coelestia 1927)

10405. 'And he received [the gold] from their hands' means things favouring their proprium or self. This is clear from the meaning of 'receiving from someone's hand' as receiving such things as are his, thus that belong to the self or are favourable to the self; for 'the hand' means a person's power or capability, and consequently whatever is his, see in the places referred to in 10019, and 10082, 10241.