905. 'Going out of the ark' means freedom. This is clear from what has been stated already and from the point reached in the train of thought. Noah's time in the ark surrounded by the flood-waters meant that he was in bondage, that is, he was tossed about by evils and falsities, or what amounts to the same, by evil spirits responsible for the conflict that accompanies temptation. From this it follows that 'going out of the ark' means freedom. The Lord's presence entails freedom; one follows the other. The more the Lord is present the more free a person becomes, that is, insofar as love of good and truth is in him he acts in freedom. Such is the Lord's influx by way of angels. On the other hand, the influx of hell by way of evil spirits brings with it a force and impulsion to dominate. Their whole intention is to subjugate a person to the point of making him nothing and themselves everything. When they are everything a person is one of them. Yet he is scarcely one of them but in their eyes a veritable nobody. Consequently when the Lord is freeing a person from their yoke and dominion, conflict arises. But once he has been set free, that is, been regenerated, he is led by the Lord through angels so gently that no yoke or dominion exists at all, for he is being led by what is joyful and pleasing, he is being loved, and he is being shown respect. This is what the Lord teaches in Matthew,

My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. Matthew 11:30.

It is quite the reverse with evil spirits. With them, as has been stated, a person is reckoned as nothing, and if they could they would be tormenting him from one moment to the next. This I have been given to know from considerable experience, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be presented later on.

In the Word, “light” in the highest sense represents Divine Truth: knowledge, ideas, understanding that come to us from the Lord. In lesser degrees -- the light of a lamp, the light of the moon and so forth -- it represents lower levels of truth, ideas and understanding drawn from more earthly sources. Also, the sun in the Word represents the Lord, with its heat representing the divine love and its light representing the divine wisdom. That wisdom flows into our minds and enters our lives in the form of truth -- things we can know and ponder that lead us and help us to be good people. This connection between light and thought is one of many spiritual/natural relationships that's embedded in our common language. People “see the light” when they understand something; we try to “shed some light” by bringing new thoughts to a difficult question; people are “enlightened” when they get new information or a more complete understanding of something. And a light bulb in a cartoon represents an idea!