Arcana Coelestia #17
17. Verse 2 And the earth was a void and an emptiness, and there was thick darkness over the face 1 of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face 1 of the waters. The person who has yet to be regenerated is called 'a void and an empty earth', and also 'ground', in which no good or truth at all has been sown - 'void' where there is no good, and 'empty' where there is no truth. Consequently there is 'thick darkness', or stupidity and lack of knowledge about anything that has to do with faith in the Lord and so anything that has to do with spiritual and celestial life. This kind of person is described by the Lord through Jeremiah,
My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are stupid children, having no understanding; they are wise to do evil, and know not how to do good. I looked to the earth, and, behold, a void and an emptiness; and towards the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:22-23, 25.
Footnotes:
1. literally, the faces
Arcana Coelestia #10549
10549. 'And so it was, when Moses went out to the tent, that all the people rose and stood, [each] at the door of [his] tent' means that that nation did not abide in the external aspect of the Word, the Church, and worship, but outside it. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in the places referred to in 9372; from the meaning of 'the tent' as the holiness of worship, the Church, and the Word, dealt with above in 10545; and from the meaning of 'rising and standing in front of the door of the tent' as standing outside it. For 'the door' means entrance, introduction, and communication, 2145, 2152, 8989, and therefore 'standing in front of it' means not going in, being introduced, and being communicated.