6639. 'A man and his household they came' means in regard to truth and in regard to good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a man' as truth, dealt with in 3134, 3459; and from the meaning of 'household' or 'house' as good, dealt with in 3720, 4982. Since the subject in those chapters in Genesis that deal with the coming of Jacob's sons, and of Israel himself, into Egypt to Joseph was the introduction of the Church's truths into factual knowledge, and since the Church was not established until after that introduction had taken place, the subject now - keeping to the train of thought in the internal sense - is the Church which has been established and the way in which it is constantly molested by factual knowledge and falsities. For no matter how far truths have been introduced and the Church has been established with a person, factual knowledge and falsities are nevertheless constantly rising up and attacking the things of the Church that are present with him. These are the considerations that are represented by the fact that Pharaoh and the Egyptians afflicted the children of Israel and wished to kill their baby boys.

[2] Anyone unacquainted with the situation in which the Church's truth is under attack from factual knowledge and falsities among those in the next life who belong to the Church cannot possibly believe that such a thing is true. A member of the Church who enters the next life has to be purified from the kinds of things that molest truths and forms of good, otherwise he cannot be raised into heaven and live among a community of people there who have been purified from the same kind of things. If he were raised into heaven before such purification had taken place he would be like fog surrounded by clear air or like a patch or darkness amid bright light. In order therefore that a member of the Church recently arrived from the world may undergo purification, he is kept in a state in which he may receive attacks from factual knowledge that does not agree with truths, and also from falsities; and he remains in this state until that factual knowledge becomes worthless to him and is removed. This rarely happens to a person during his lifetime, but in the next life it is exactly what happens to those who are to be raised into heaven, though there is considerable variation to the process. I have been allowed to know that all this is true from much experience, which would fill quite a number of pages if all of it were recounted.

[3] There are the matters that are described in the internal sense by the oppression of the children of Israel by the Egyptians, after that by their deliverance from them, and finally by their introduction - after various states in the wilderness - into the land of Canaan. The truth of all this cannot possibly be grasped by those who believe that salvation is simply being admitted into heaven through an act of mercy, and that anyone can be admitted who thinks - on the basis of seeming trust, called faith - that he can be saved, regardless of the life he has led, because the Lord has suffered on his behalf. For if salvation involved simply being admitted into heaven through an act of mercy, then everyone in the whole world would be saved, since the Lord, who is Mercy itself, desires the salvation of all and the death or damnation of none.

3720. 'This is nothing other than the house of God' means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order. This is clear from the meaning of 'the house of God'. In the Word 'the house of God' is referred to in many places, and in the external sense, that is, literally, it means a building where holy worship takes place. But in the internal sense it means the Church, in the more universal sense it means heaven, and in the most universal the Lord's kingdom. In the highest sense however it means the Lord Himself as regards the Divine Human. But in the Word sometimes the expression 'House of God' is used and sometimes 'Temple'. The two are similar in meaning, the difference being that the expression 'House of God' is used when the subject is good but 'temple' when the subject is truth. From this it is evident that 'the House of God' means the Lord's celestial Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of celestial angels, in the most universal the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good; whereas 'the Temple' means the Lord's spiritual Church, and in the more universal sense the heaven of spiritual angels, in the most universal the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and in the highest the Lord as regards Divine Truth, see 2048. The reason why 'the House of God' means that which is celestial and the dwelling-place of good, while 'the Temple' means that which is spiritual and the dwelling-place of truth, is that 'a house' in the Word means good, see 710, 2233, 2559, 3128, 3652, and among the most ancient people used to be built of pieces of wood for the reason that 'wood' meant good, 643, 1110, 2784, 2812, whereas 'the Temple' means truth because it was built of stones - 'stones' meaning truths, see 643, 1296, 1298.

[2] These meanings that 'pieces of wood' and 'stones' possess are clear not only from the Word where they are mentioned but also from representatives in the next life. For people who assume that merit lies in good works seem to themselves to be cutting wood, and those who assume that it lies in truths, that is to say, people who have believed that they knew more truths than anybody else and yet have lived wickedly, seem to themselves to be breaking up stones. I have often seen such people wood-cutting or stone-breaking, from which the meaning of 'wood' and of 'stone' was made clear to me - that good is meant by 'wood' and truth by 'stone'. It has in like manner been made clear to me from the fact that when I have seen a wooden house the concept of good has instantly presented itself, and when I have seen a stone house the concept of truth has done so. And I have also learned from angels about this matter. This is why, when in the Word 'the House of God' is mentioned, the concept of good presents itself to angels, the kind of good depending on the nature of the subject that is being dealt with. And when 'the Temple' is mentioned, the concept of truth presents itself, the kind of truth depending on the subject that is being dealt with. From this one may also deduce how deeply and inwardly concealed the heavenly arcana lie in the Word.

[3] The reason 'the House of God' here means the Lord's kingdom as it exists in the ultimate degree of order is that the subject is Jacob who, as often shown already, represents the Lord's Divine Natural. The natural exists in the ultimate degree of order, for the natural encompasses all interior degrees and includes them all together within itself. And since they are included all together within the natural, and so countless things are beheld as a single whole, obscurity exists there compared with other degrees. This obscurity too has been dealt with frequently.