1437. The meaning of they left to go into the land of Canaan as the fact that by these means he would press on all the way to the heavenly aspects of love can be seen from the symbolism of the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan represents the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth, as the Word reveals in many places. ¹ The reason for the connection is that the land of Canaan saw the establishment of the representative church, in which everything in general and particular represented the Lord and the heavenly and spiritual elements of his kingdom. It was not just their rituals that had a representative meaning but everything connected with ritual as well — the people who ministered, the tools of their ministry, and the places where they carried it out. Because the representative church was there, the land was called the Holy Land, even though it was anything but holy, since profane idolaters lived there. This, then, is why the land of Canaan here and in what follows symbolizes the heavenly qualities of love. The heavenly qualities of love are all that the Lord's kingdom contains and all that it comprises.

Footnotes:

1413. The symbolism of to the land that I show you as spiritual and heavenly traits that would be presented to view is established by the symbolism of the land (§§662, 1066). ¹ Here it is established by the symbolism of the land of Canaan, which represents the Lord's kingdom, as can be seen from many places in the Word. ² This is why the land of Canaan is called the Holy Land, and the heavenly Canaan. ³ Because it represented the Lord's kingdom, it also represented and symbolized spiritual and heavenly qualities of the Lord's kingdom and, here, of the Lord himself.

Footnotes: