3809. 'And brought him to his house' means to their being joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing to the house' as taking to oneself, for in the internal sense a person himself is called 'a house', see 3128, 3242, 3538. He is so called by virtue of good, which strictly speaking is 'the house', 2233, 2331, 3652, 3720. In this case therefore a bringing to the good represented by 'Laban' is meant. That being so, 'bringing to his house' here means a joining together. This verse in the internal sense describes the whole process by which natural good meant by 'Jacob' is joined to a parallel good meant by 'Laban'. The following five phases constitute that process: Mutual acknowledgement, agreement, affection, an initial stage to a joining together, and actual joining together. Mutual acknowledgement was meant by 'Rachel ran and told her father' and by 'Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son', dealt with in 3804, 3805: agreement by 'Laban ran to meet him', dealt with in 3806: affection by 'Laban embraced him', dealt with in 3807: the initial stage to a joining together by 'he kissed him', dealt with in 3808: and the joining together by 'he brought him to his house', dealt with in this paragraph.

1073. 'He was uncovered in the middle of his tent' means resulting perversities. This is clear from the meaning of being 'uncovered' or naked. For someone is called uncovered and naked from drunkenness caused by wine when no truths of faith reside with him, and more so when perversities reside there. Truths of faith themselves are compared to garments that clothe charity or the goods that stem from charity, for charity is the body itself, and truths therefore the garments. Or what is equally the case, charity is the soul itself, while truths of faith are like the body that is the clothing for the soul. What is more, in the Word the truths of faith are called 'garments' and 'a covering'; hence the statement in verse 23 below that 'Shem and Japheth took a garment and covered their father's nakedness'. The relationship of spiritual things to celestial is like that of the body that clothes the soul, or like garments clothing the body, and indeed in heaven spiritual things are represented by garments. Here, because it is said that 'he lay uncovered', it means that he divested himself of the truths of faith through desiring to probe into them by means of sensory evidence and reasonings based on this. Similar concepts are meant in the Word by 'lying naked as a result of being drunk from wine', as in Jeremiah,

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, dweller in the land of Uz. Over you also the cup will pass, you will become drunk and strip yourself naked. Lamentations 4:11.

And in Habakkuk,

Woe to him who makes his neighbour drink, and by also making them drunk to look upon their nakedness. Habakkuk 2:15.