Animals in the Bible generally refer to spiritual activity, the things we actually do on a spiritual level. "Cattle," as typically used in the Bible, mean a collection of domesticated animals owned by one person or group (including other animals along with cows). It makes sense, then, that cattle would represent the spiritual activities we "own" and have "domesticated."

What are the good things we like to see in ourselves and encourage? What true ideas do we keep in mind, ponder, and use in our decision-making? These can come in great varieties and from many different sources, just as a variety of animals could be part of "cattle," but the key is that we own them, care for them and use them.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 415, 3786, 4105, 4106, 4391, 4440)

4106. 'The cattle he had purchased' means the things acquired by these from other sources. This is clear from the meaning of 'cattle' as truths, dealt with immediately above, and from the meaning of 'purchasing' as things acquired from other sources. For 'the cattle' which had been purchased came from another source, even though they had been gathered with the aid of Laban's flock.