3761. And Jacob lifted up his feet. That this signifies the elevation of the natural, is evident from the signification of “lifting up,” as being elevation; and from the signification of the “feet,” as being the natural, concerning which in what follows. The elevation here signified is that treated of in this chapter, which is from external truth to internal good. In the supreme sense it is shown how the Lord elevated His natural even to the Divine, according to order, by ascending from external truth through the degrees to internal good; and in the representative sense, how the Lord makes new the natural of man when He regenerates him, according to a similar order. That the man who is being regenerated in adult age advances according to the order described in the internal sense in this and the following chapters, is known to few, for the reason that few reflect upon it, and also that few at this day can be regenerated. For these are the last times of the church, when there is no longer any charity, consequently not any faith; and this being the case, it is not even known what faith is, although it is on the lips of all that man is saved by faith. Still less is it known what charity is; and as these two are known merely as terms, and are unknown in respect to their essence, it is on this account said that few can reflect upon the order according to which man is made new, or is regenerated, and also that few can be regenerated.

[2] Because the natural is here treated of, and this is represented by Jacob, it is not said that he “arose,” and went to the land of the sons of the east, but that he “lifted up his feet.” Both expressions signify elevation (that “arising” has this signification may be seen above, n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171). But the reason why it is here said, “he lifted up his feet,” is that this is said with respect to the natural; for “feet” signify the natural (n. 2162, 3147). That “feet” signify the natural, or natural things, comes from the correspondence with the Grand Man which has been spoken of at the close of the preceding chapters, in which Grand Man they who belong to the province of the feet are those who are in natural light and but little in spiritual; consequently the parts under the feet, as the soles and the heels, signify the lowest natural things (see n. 259); and hence the shoe, which is also occasionally mentioned in the Word, signifies the corporeal natural which is the ultimate (n. 1748).

1748. That from a thread even to the thong [or latchet] of a shoe. That this signifies all natural and corporeal things that were unclean, is evident from the signification of “the thong of a shoe.” In the Word the sole of the foot and the heel signify the ultimate natural (as before shown, n. 259). A shoe is that which covers the sole of the foot and the heel; a “shoe” therefore signifies what is natural still further, thus the corporeal itself. The signification of a “shoe” is according to the subject. When predicated of goods it is taken in a good sense; and when of evil, in a bad sense; as here in treating of the substance of the king of Sodom, by whom evil and falsity are signified, the “thong of a shoe” signifies unclean natural and corporeal things. By the “thread of a shoe” falsity is signified, and by the “thong of a shoe” evil, and this the most worthless of all, because the word is a diminutive.

[2] That such things are signified by a “shoe,” is evident also from other passages in the Word; as when Jehovah appeared to Moses out of the midst of the bush, and said to Moses:

Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground (Exodus 3:5).

The prince of the army of Jehovah said in like manner to Joshua:

Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holiness (Josh. 5:15).

Here everyone can see that the shoe would take away nothing from the holiness, provided the man were holy in himself; but that it was said for the reason that the shoe represented the ultimate natural and corporeal which was to be put off.

[3] That it is the unclean natural and corporeal, is also plain in David:

Moab is my washpot, upon Edom will I cast My shoe (Psalms 60:8).

The command to the disciples involves what is similar:

Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet (Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5); where the “dust of the feet” has a signification like that of a “shoe,” namely, uncleanness from evil and falsity, because the sole of the foot is the ultimate natural. They were commanded to do this because they were at that time in representatives, and thought that heavenly arcana were stored up in these alone, and not in naked truths.

[4] Because a “shoe” signified the ultimate natural, the putting off of the shoe, or the shoe-loosing, signified that one should be divested of the ultimate things of nature; as in the case of him who was not willing to fulfill the duty of brother-in-law, spoken of in Moses:

If the man is not willing to fulfill the duties of a husband’s brother, then his brother’s wife shall come unto him in the eyes of the elders, and draw his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man that doth not build up his brother’s house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe taken off (Deuteronomy 25:5-10);

meaning that which is devoid of all natural charity.

[5] That a “shoe” signifies the ultimate natural, in a good sense also, is likewise evident from the Word; as in Moses, concerning Asher:

Blessed be Asher above the sons; let him be acceptable unto his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil; iron and brass shall thy shoe be (Deuteronomy 33:24-25); where the “shoe” denotes the ultimate natural; a “shoe of iron” natural truth, a “shoe of brass” natural good, as is evident from the signification of iron and brass (see n. 425, 426). And because a “shoe” signified the ultimate natural and corporeal, it became a symbol of what is least and most worthless; for the ultimate natural and corporeal is the most worthless of all things in man. This was meant by John the Baptist, when he said,

There cometh One that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose (Luke 3:16; Mark 1:7; John 1:27).