423. And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. This symbolically means that therefore the light of truth became thick darkness.

The sun and the air here symbolize the light of truth, for the sun symbolizes love, and the light from it, Divine truth. Consequently, when we are told that the sun was darkened, and with it the air, it symbolically means that Divine truth became thick darkness. That this resulted from falsities accompanying lusts is symbolically meant by its being because of the smoke of the pit.

27. The Word’s Literal Sense Is the Foundation, Containing Vessel and Buttress of Its Spiritual and Celestial Meanings

Every Divine work has in it a first, intermediate, and final element, and the first one progresses through the intermediate one to the final one, and so takes form and endures. Thus the final element is the foundation. Moreover, the first element is present in the intermediate one, and present through the intermediate one in the final one. Thus the final element is the containing vessel. And because the final element is the containing vessel and foundation, it is also the buttress.