'The land of Canaan' in the Word, denotes love, and consequently, the will of the celestial self.

In Genesis 12:5, the land of Canaan signifies the celestial things of love that make up the Lord's kingdom. (Arcana Coelestia 1437)

In Genesis 44:8, it signifies various things: The Lord's kingdom, the church, the man of the church, the celestial of the church, or its good; also its spiritual, or the truth and good as his own. (Arcana Coelestia 5757)

(Verweise: Arcana Coelestia 485)

5757. 'We brought back to you from the land of Canaan' means has been submitted, as the result of religious belief. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing back' as submitting, dealt with in 5624, and from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as their religious belief. 'The land of Canaan' has various meanings, and this is because it is the kind of thing that includes very many meanings. It means the Lord's kingdom and it means the Church, as a consequence of which it also means the member of the Church, for he is a Church. Having these meanings that land also means the celestial element of the Church, which is the good of love, and the spiritual element of it too, which is the truth of faith; and so on. Here therefore a religious belief which the Church possesses is meant; for the Church's religious belief is what causes a person to think that he should not lay claim to truth and good as his own. From this one may see why a single expression sometimes has many meanings; for when many meanings are included within an overall one, an expression can then convey a particular meaning as the train of thought in the internal sense may demand. As regards 'the land of Canaan' meaning the Lord's kingdom, see 1413, 1437, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705; and as regards its meaning the Church, 3686, 3705, 4447. All the other meanings which that expression possesses flow from these two.