This represents the next step in the judgment of the Ancient Church - and, by extension, the process we all go through as we are shedding an evil and trying to become better. In the previous verse the Lord entered in to, purified and protected the remnant of that church that still had the desire to be good. Here we see the beginning of the counterattack from those confirmed in evil desires and false ideas.

The "men of the city" represent those confirmed in false beliefs; the "men of Sodom" represent those confirmed in evil desires; "old and young and from every quarter" means all of them together. The "house" represents the inmost desire for good in the remnant being protected by the Lord, and the fact that they "surrounded" it shows their opposition and hatred of that desire for good.

We suffer similar conflicts within ourselves in times of temptation, as our own evil desires and false beliefs mass together to oppose the desire we have to be good.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 2345)

2451. 'And all the inhabitants of the cities' means that all goods were severed from them so that they might possess nothing but evils. This is clear from the meaning of 'the inhabitants' when they are those of a city, as goods - as may be confirmed from many examples in the Word. This meaning is also evident from the fact that when 'a city' means truth, as has been shown, 'inhabitant' means good, for it is truth that good inhabits. But truth in which there is no good is like an empty or uninhabited city. That in addition to this all goods as well are separated from the evil so that they possess nothing but evils, see above in 2449.