Babylon was an ancient city built on the Euphrates river in what is now southern Iraq. It once was the capital of a great empire which at one point conquered the land of Judah as mentioned in the second book of Kings and in Daniel. But the river changed its course and the city was abandoned long ago. Both the historic city in Mesopotamia and the parable city with its tower, mentioned in Genesis, represent the same thing, a worship that appears holy in externals, while the internals are profane. This representation expands to mean a church whose leaders use this kind of worship to gain dominion over others for their own gain and for the gain and power of the church. The city itself is the doctrinal structure that supports this kind of worship and dominion.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 1029; Arcana Coelestia 1283, 1302, 1304, 1310, 1311)

1310. Verse 5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man were building.

'Jehovah came down' means judgement on them 'To see the city and the tower' means on account of the fact that they had perverted doctrine and profaned worship. 'Which the sons of man were building' means which they fabricated for themselves.