Swedenborg learned that the Biblical creation story is a parable about our spiritual development. See how that first light shining in the darkness represents the beginning of spiritual awareness.

8510. There went out some of the people for to gather, and they found none. That this signifies that they desired to acquire, but it was not possible, is evident from what was unfolded above (n. 8505). It is there made plain what it is to act from the truth which is of faith, and what from the good which is of charity, namely, that he who acts from the truth which is of faith is not yet in the order of heaven, but that he who acts from the good which is of charity is in this order. For the order in which man is led by the Lord is by man’s willing, consequently by means of good, for this is of the will, and then his understanding ministers, consequently truth, for this is of the understanding. When this state is attained, then is “the Sabbath;” for then the Lord has rest; this state comes forth when good has been conjoined with truth. That this state is the Lord’s “rest,” can be seen from the fact that Jehovah, or the Lord, after the creation and labor of six days, on the seventh day rested from all His work (Genesis 2:2). This state is the state of heaven; consequently heaven itself is called a “Sabbath,” or in heaven there is said to be a “perpetual Sabbath.” That by the creation in the first chapter of Genesis is meant a new creation or regeneration, and that by the six days in that chapter are meant temptations and combats, see what has been unfolded at chapters 1 and 2.