4281. That by “the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint in his wrestling with him,” is signified that this conjunction was wholly injured and displaced in Jacob’s posterity, is evident from the signification of being “out of joint” in the sense in question, as being to be displaced, and thus to be injured. That the “hollow of the thigh” denotes conjunction, is manifest from what was said above (n. 4280); and because in the Word “Jacob” denotes not only Jacob, but also all his posterity, as is evident from many passages in the Word (Numbers 23:7, 10, 21, 2 23:23; 24:5, 1 24:17, 19; Deuteronomy 33:10; Isaiah 40:27; 43:1, 22; 44:1-2, 21; 48:12; 59:20; Jeremiah 10:16, 25; 30:7, 10, 18; 31:7, 11; 46:27-28; Hosea 10:11 Amos 7:2; Micah 2:12; 3:8; Psalms 14:7; 24:6; 59:13; 78:5; 99:4 and elsewhere).

[2] That Jacob and his posterity were of such a character that with them celestial and spiritual love could not be conjoined with natural good (that is, the internal or spiritual man with the external or natural man), is manifest from everything which is related of that nation in the Word; for they did not know, nor were they willing to know, what the internal or spiritual man is, and therefore this was not revealed to them; for they believed that nothing exists in man except that which is external and natural. In all their worship they had regard to nothing else, insomuch that Divine worship was to them no otherwise than idolatrous; for when internal worship is separated from external, it is merely idolatrous. The church that was instituted with them was not a church, but only the representative of a church; for which reason that church is called a representative church. That a representative of a church is possible with such people may be seen above (n. 1361, 3670, 4208).

[3] For in representations the person is not reflected upon, but the thing which is represented; and therefore Divine, celestial, and spiritual things were represented not only by persons, but also by inanimate things, as by Aaron’s garments, the ark, the altar, the oxen and sheep that were sacrificed, the lampstand with its lamps, the bread of arrangement upon the golden table, the oil with which they were anointed, the frankincense, and other like things. Hence it was that their kings, the evil as well as the good, represented the Lord’s royalty; and the high priests, the evil as well as the good, represented the things that belong to the Lord’s Divine priesthood, when they discharged their office in an outward form according to the statutes and precepts. In order therefore that the representative of a church might come forth among them, such statutes and laws were given them by manifest revelation as were altogether representative; and therefore so long as they were in them and observed them strictly, so long they were able to represent; but when they turned aside from them, as to the statutes and laws of other nations, and especially to the worship of another god, they then deprived themselves of the faculty of representing. For this reason they were driven by outward means, such as captivities, disasters, threats, and miracles, to laws and statutes truly representative; but not by internal means, as are those who have internal worship in external. These things are signified by the “hollow of Jacob’s thigh being out of joint,” taken in the internal historical sense, which regards Jacob and his posterity.

8788. 'And sanctify them today and tomorrow' means covering over their interiors in order that those people may appear now and subsequently in the holiness of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'sanctifying' as arranging them so that outwardly they may appear in holiness; and since this is accomplished by covering over their interiors, 'sanctifying' has this meaning also. The fact that 'today and tomorrow' means now and subsequently is self-evident. What all this implies will be stated briefly. The Church established among the Jews was not, as regards the Jews themselves, the Church, only a representative of the Church. For the Church to exist there must reside with those belonging to the Church faith in the Lord, and also love to Him, as well as love towards the neighbour. These virtues make the Church. But they did not reside with the people who were called Jacob; for they did not acknowledge the Lord, and so did not wish to hear about faith in Him, let alone about love to Him or indeed about love towards the neighbour. They were ruled by self-love and love of the world, the kinds of love that are the complete opposites of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. Such a disposition has been rooted in that people from their earliest forebears. This is why no Church could be established among that people; all they could do was represent things that constitute the Church. Mere representation of the Church comes about when people's worship centres on external things, but only on such things as correspond to heavenly ones. External things then serve to represent internal, and the internal things are made evident in heaven, to which those people are consequently joined. Therefore to make representation possible among the Israelite people, when interiorly they were devoid of the faith and love of heaven, indeed were full of self-love and love of the world, their interiors were covered over. Then their externals alone, without their internals, could be conveyed to spirits, and through these to angels. Consequently unless their internals had been covered over, internals too would have been made evident, in which case the representation would have been destroyed because foul [thoughts and affections] would have burst out and defiled it. Such a covering over was possible with that people more than with all the rest because they venerated external things more than others did; they thought that those things themselves were intrinsically holy, indeed Divine.

All this makes clear what one should understand by 'sanctifying', namely covering over their interiors in order that those people may appear in the holiness of faith, though not to themselves, only to the angels present with them. See what has been shown already about this people and the establishment of the Church among them, in 4208, 4281, 4288, 4289, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444, 4459, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4899, 4911, 4912, 4500, 7048, 7051, 8588. The fact that sanctification among them amounted to no more than an appearance of holiness in externals, since they themselves had no holiness within them, becomes clear from the ceremonies by which they were sanctified, that is to say, by sacrifices, washings, sprinklings of blood, and anointings, which do not in any way whatever touch internal things.