4482. 'Behold, the land is broad and spacious before them' means extension, that is to say, of truth which is the truth of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land' as the Church, dealt with just above in 4480, and from the meaning of 'broad and spacious' as extension as regards truths, and so as regards those taught by doctrine. When in the Word the measurements of something are given, it is not those measurements that are meant in the internal sense but the essential characteristics of a state that is being described. For measurements involve spatial dimensions and in the next life there are no intervals of space, as there are no periods of time, but states which correspond to these, see 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 3404, 4321. That being so, lengths, breadths, and heights, which are spatial measurements, mean the aspects of a state - length meaning holiness, height good, and breadth truth, see 650, 1613, 3433, 3434. This then is why 'the land is broad and spacious' means the extension of truth which is the truth of doctrine within the Church.

[2] Anyone who does not know of the existence of anything spiritual in the Word other than that which stands out in the literal sense is bound to be amazed by the statement that 'the land is broad and specious' means the extension of truth which is the truth of doctrine within the Church. But the truth of this statement may be established from places where 'breadth' is mentioned in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Asshur will go through Judah, it will deluge it and pass through and will reach even to the neck; and the outstretchings of its wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isaiah 8:8.

In David,

O Jehovah, You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Psalms 31:8.

In the same author,

Out of my distress I called on Jah; He answered me in a broad place. Psalms 118:5.

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching' into the breadths of the earth. Habakkuk 1:6.

'Breadths' here means nothing other than the truth of the Church.

[3] The reason why breadth has this meaning is that in the spiritual world, that is, in heaven, the Lord is the centre of all, for He is the Sun there. Those in a state of good are more interior, their exact position towards the middle being determined by the character and the amount of the good present in them. This is why 'height' is used in reference to good. Those who are in a similar degree of good are also in a similar degree of truth, and so dwell so to speak at the same distance from the centre, or one might say, dwell on the same contour; and this is why 'breadth' is used in reference to truths. Therefore when a person reads the Word the angels present with him do not understand by 'breadth' anything other than truths. When in the Historical sections, for example, the ark, the altar, the temple, and the spaces outside cities are referred to, states of good and truth are perceived by the dimensions indicating the lengths, breadths, and heights of these. The same is so with the new earth, new Jerusalem, and new Temple - described in Chapters 40-47 of Ezekiel - by which heaven and a new Church are meant, as may be seen from the detailed descriptions in those chapters. So also in John where it is said of the New Jerusalem that it will be foursquare, 'its length being as great as its breadth', Revelation 21:16.

[4] Things which in the spiritual world are interior are described as those that are higher, while those that are exterior are described by those that are lower, 2148, for while in the world, no one can conceive of interior things and exterior ones in any other way, for the reason that he dwells within space and time, and things that belong to space and time have entered in among the ideas comprising his thought and have conditioned the majority of these. From this it is also evident that expressions which give the spatial measurements of things such as the height, length, and breadth of them, are in the spiritual sense expressions used to indicate the magnitude of affections for good and affections for truth.

1616. That 'Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak groves of Mamre which are in Hebron' means that the Lord arrived at a perception more interior still is clear from the meaning of 'moving one's tent', that is, moving it and pitching it once again, as the process of being joined together; for 'a tent' is the holiness of worship, as shown already in 414, 1452, by which the external man is joined to the internal. It is also clear from the meaning of 'an oak-grove' as perception, dealt with already in 1442, 1443, where the phrase that occurred was 'the oak-grove of Moreh', meaning a first perception, whereas here the plural 'the oak-groves of Mamre' is used, which means a fuller, that is, more interior perception. This perception is called 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron'. Mamre is also mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in Genesis 14:13; 18:1; 23:17-19; 35:27; and Hebron too, in Genesis 35:27; 37:14; Joshua 10:36, 39; 14:13-15; 15:13, 54; 20:7; 21:11, 13; Judges 1:10, 20; and elsewhere. But what Mamre and Hebron mean where they are so mentioned will in the Lord's Divine mercy be seen when these other parts of the Word are explained.

[2] The implications of 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron' meaning perception more interior still are as follows: To the extent that those things belonging to the external man are joined to celestial things belonging to the internal man perception grows and becomes more interior. Conjunction with celestial things confers perception, for within the celestial things that belong to love to Jehovah dwells the life itself of the internal man, or what amounts to the same, within celestial things which belong to love, that is, within celestial love, Jehovah is present. This presence is not perceived in the external man however until the conjunction has taken place. All perception is the result of conjunction.

[3] From the internal sense here it is clear what the situation was in the Lord's case: His External Man, or Human Essence, was joined step by step to the Divine Essence as cognitions multiplied and became fruitful. No one can ever, insofar as he is human, be joined to Jehovah, or the Lord, except by means of cognitions, for it is by means of cognitions that a person is made human. This applied to the Lord too since He was born as any other is born, and received instruction as any other does. Yet in the cognitions He had as receptacles celestial things were being instilled continually, with the result that His cognitions were constantly being made into the recipient vessels of celestial things; and these vessels also were themselves made celestial.

[4] Constantly the Lord advanced in this manner towards the celestial things of infancy, for, as stated already, the celestial things which belong to love are being instilled in a person from earliest infancy to childhood and on into adolescence as well. Since he is a human being, at that time and later on he is endowed with knowledge and cognitions. If a person is such that he can be regenerated, that knowledge and those cognitions are filled with celestial things that belong to love and charity, and are accordingly implanted within the celestial things he was endowed with from infancy through to childhood and adolescence, and in this way his external man is joined to his internal. First of all they are implanted in the celestial things he was endowed with in adolescence, then in those he was endowed with in childhood, and finally in those he was endowed with in infancy. At that point he is 'the little child' regarding whom the Lord said 'of such is the kingdom of God'. This implanting is done by the Lord alone, and therefore nothing celestial with man either does or can exist with man that does not come from, and belong to, the Lord.

[5] The Lord however from His own power joined His External Man to His Internal Man and filled His cognitions with celestial things, and He implanted them in celestial things, doing so according to Divine Order. First of all He implanted them in the celestial things of childhood, then in the celestial things of the age of childhood and back to infancy, and finally in the celestial things of His infancy. In this way He at the same time became as regards the Human Essence Innocence itself and Love itself, from which derive all innocence and all love in heaven and on earth. Such Innocence is true Infancy because it is simultaneously Wisdom. But the innocence of infancy is of no use at all unless by means of cognitions it becomes the innocence of wisdom, and this is why little children in the next life are endowed with cognitions. As the Lord implanted cognitions in celestial things, so He had perception, for, as stated, all perception is the result of conjunction. He had His first perception when He implanted the facts acquired in childhood, a perception meant by 'the oak-grove of Moreh'; and He had His second, which is the subject here, and which is more interior, when He implanted cognitions, a perception meant by 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron'.