4558. 'And he built an altar there' means through being made holy. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as the chief representative of the Lord, and from this as the holiness of worship, dealt with in 4541; and when it has reference to the Lord, as His Divine Human and the holiness which proceeds from this, 2811. For that which in the Church is the chief representative of the Lord also means in the highest sense the Lord Himself as to His Divine Human, because that which is the representative of it is in the highest sense that Human itself. The making holy of the natural is meant by 'he built an altar there (that is, in Bethel)', for 'Bethel' means the Divine Natural, see just above in 4556.

4556. 'And Jacob came to Luz which is in the land of Canaan' means the natural as it was in the previous state, while 'that is, Bethel' means the Divine Natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'Luz' as the natural as it was in the previous state, that is, the actual natural which was human. But this was made Divine, and that is the meaning of 'that is, Bethel'; for 'Bethel' is the Divine Natural, see 4089, 4539. This also explains why, when Bethel is referred to by name elsewhere in the Word, the expression 'Luz, that is, Bethel' or 'Bethel, formerly Luz' is used, as in Joshua,

The boundary of the lot of the children of Benjamin between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph went out to Luz, to the side of Luz southwards, that is, Bethel. Joshua 18:13.

And in the Book of Judges,

The house of Joseph went up to Bethel and spied out Bethel; and the name of the city formerly was Luz. Judges 1:23.