7996. No son of an alien shall eat of it. That this signifies that those who are not in truth and good are to be separated from them, is evident from the signification of “an alien,” as being those out of the church who do not acknowledge anything of the truth and good of faith, as was the case with the nations in the land of Canaan (see n. 2049, 2115), thus who are not in truth and good; and from the signification of “not eating of it,” as being to communicate and be conjoined with them, thus to be separated from them. In what now follows those are treated of who should eat the passover together, and those who should not. The supper of the passover represented the consociations of the good in heaven; and in the statutes which follow, it is declared who could be consociated and who could not. In general, feasts, both dinners and suppers, in ancient times were made within the church in order that they might be consociated and conjoined as to love, and that they might instruct one another in those things which are of love and faith, thus in the things of heaven (see n. 3596, 3832, 5161). Such at that time were the delights attending their banquets, and such was the end for the sake of which were their dinners and suppers. Thus the mind and the body also were nourished unanimously and correspondently; and from this they had health and long life, and from it they had intelligence and wisdom; and also from this they had communication with heaven, and some had open communication with angels. But as in course of time all internal things vanish away and pass into external ones, so also did the purposes of the feasts and banquets, which at this day are not for the sake of any spiritual conjunction, but for the sake of worldly conjunctions, namely, for the sake of gain, for the sake of the pursuit of honors, and for the sake of pleasures, from which there is nourishment of the body, but none of the mind.

3832. And made a feast. That this signifies initiation, is evident from the signification of a “feast,” as being appropriation and conjunction (see n. 3596); in the present case initiation, because initiation precedes conjunction, and likewise pledges and attests it. The feasts made in old times among those who were in significatives and representatives, signified nothing else than initiation into the mutual love which is of charity. The nuptial feasts also signified initiation into conjugial love; and the holy feasts, initiation into spiritual and celestial love; and this because feasting, or eating and drinking, signified appropriation and conjunction (as shown above, n. 3734). Because of this signification the Lord also said with the same meaning:

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11).

And in another place, to His disciples:

That ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (Luke 22:30).

And when He instituted the Holy Supper, He said:

I say unto you, that I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29).

Everyone may see that by “sitting down, eating and drinking in the Lord’s kingdom,” is not signified sitting down, eating, and drinking; but something which exists in that kingdom, and is the appropriation of the good of love and the truth of faith; thus it signifies that which is called spiritual and celestial food. It is also manifest from the above words that there is an internal sense in all that the Lord spoke, and that without understanding this it cannot be known what it is to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to eat and drink in the Lord’s kingdom at His table, and to drink with them of the fruit of that vine in the kingdom of His Father; nay, neither can it be known what is meant by eating bread and drinking wine in the Holy Supper.