872. 'The face ¹ of the ground' means those things that reside with the member of the Church, and the expression 'the ground' is used because it is the first stage at which man comes to be the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ground', dealt with already, as the member of the Church who is at that point called 'the ground' when the goods and truths of faith can be sown within him. Previously he is called 'the land', as in Genesis 1 where 'the land' refers to man prior to his becoming celestial, while Chapter 2, when he has become celestial, refers to him as 'the ground' and 'the field'. It is similar in the present chapter. The expression 'the land' and the expression 'the ground' are sufficient by themselves to enable someone to recognize what is meant in the internal sense, not only here but also anywhere else in the Word. 'The ground' in the universal sense means the Church, and as the Church is meant so too is the member of the Church for, as stated already, every member of the Church is the Church.

Footnotes:

2507. 'Of Sarah his wife' means spiritual truth joined to the celestial. This is clear from the meaning of 'Sarah his wife' as intellectual truth joined to Divine Good, or what amounts to the same, spiritual truth joined to the celestial, dealt with in 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198. What the spiritual is, and what the celestial, has been stated quite often already, see 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088. That is called the celestial which consists in good, that is, which consists in love to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbour; and that is called the spiritual which consists in truth, that is, which consists in faith deriving from love and charity.