In the Christmas story, the wise men bring gifts to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The gold is listed first, because it is the inmost - signifying good, e.g. the good that we do when we love the Lord and the neighbor.

The frankincense is next. It signifies rational truth, which is the set of true ideas that we know, not about external things like cars or cooking, but about what is really good, and what is really true.

These rational truths are built on earlier knowledges that we learn, before we have really made them our own. Those early knowledges about spiritual things - often learned in childhood - are represented by the myrrh.

In a way, these gifts are really a reciprocation. We can't actually give them to the Lord until the Lord has given them to us. We necessarily start out by learning and doing the Lord's law (myrrh). The Lord can then call up those memories to become rational truths (frankincense). Then, over time, and with effort, those truths can be transformed into good (gold). The wise men from the East had gone through this process of learning and becoming vessels that could receive truths and goods. They were able to perceive the Lord's birth, and find him, and bring gifts to him.

5952. 'And he gave them carts, according to Pharaoh's command' means that from the internal they received matters of doctrine, as seemed pleasing to them. This is clear from the representation of Joseph, the one who 'gave' the carts, as internal good, dealt with already; from the meaning of 'carts' as matters of doctrine, dealt with above in 5945; and from the meaning of 'according to Pharaoh's command' as what seemed pleasing to them - to spiritual truths, which are 'the sons of Israel' - for those truths are within the natural, which is represented by 'Pharaoh', 5160, 5799, and 'the carts', meaning matters of doctrine, were placed at their disposal. The expression 'as seemed pleasing to them' is used because the matters of doctrine that are meant by the Egyptian 'carts' are obtained from the literal sense of the Word, 5945. Which without the internal sense can be applied to any kind of good. For the Lord does not openly teach anyone truths but leads him by means of good to think what the truth is, and also imparts to the person, though he is not aware of it, a discernment and consequent adoption of a thing as being true because the Word declares it to be so, and because it squares with the Word. Thus the Lord adapts truths to accord with the individual's acceptance of good. And since all this is done by Him in accordance with each person's affection, thus in his freedom, the expression 'as seemed pleasing to them' is used.