489. The symbolism of sons and daughters as the truth and goodness that this church perceived — sons being the truth and daughters the goodness — can be seen from many places in the prophets. The things conceived and born in the church are called daughters and sons in the Word, just as they were in ancient times. An example from Isaiah:

The nations will walk toward your light, and monarchs, toward the radiance of your dawn. Raise your eyes all around and see: they all gather and come to you. Your sons will come from far away and your daughters will be nourished at your side. Then you will see and flow toward them, and your heart will be struck with awe and expand. (Isaiah 60:3-4, 5)

The sons stand for truth, and the daughters, for good. In David:

Free me and rescue me from the hand of a foreigner's sons, whose mouth speaks hollow words. Our sons are like plantings grown large in their youthful days; our daughters are like corner pieces cut in the shape of the Temple. (Psalms 144:11-12)

A foreigner's sons stand for pseudo-truths, that is, falsities. "Our" sons stand for doctrinal concepts concerning truth; daughters, for doctrinal concepts concerning good. In Isaiah:

I will say to the north, "Hand them over!" and to the south, "Do not hinder them! Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth, leading forth a blind people (and they will have eyes) and the deaf (and they will have ears)." (Isaiah 43:6, 8)

The sons stand for truth, and the daughters, for good; the blind, for those who will see truth, and the deaf, for those who submit to it. In Jeremiah:

Shame has devoured our fathers' toil from our youth — their smaller livestock, their herd, their sons, and their daughters. (Jeremiah 3:24)

The sons and daughters stand for truth and good.

[2] To see that sons stand for truth, look in Isaiah:

No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no longer will his face pale. Because when he sees his sons — the work of my hands — in his midst, they will revere my name and revere the Holy One of Jacob, and the God of Israel they will dread. Those wandering in spirit will know intelligence. (Isaiah 29:22-23, 24)

The Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel, stands for the Lord. The sons stand for regenerate people, who will gain an intelligent understanding of goodness and truth, as these words also explain. In the same author:

Sing, infertile woman (she had not given birth), because the sons of the desolate one are more numerous than the sons of the married one. (Isaiah 54:1)

The sons of the desolate one stand for the truth known to the early church (the church among non-Jews) and the sons of the married one for the truth known to the Jewish church. In Jeremiah:

My tent was devastated and all my ropes were torn out; my sons went away from me and were no more. (Jeremiah 10:20)

The sons stand for truth. In the same author:

His sons will be as they once were, and their assembly will be established before me. (Jeremiah 30:20)

Here they stand for the truth known to the ancient church. In Zechariah:

I will stir up your sons, Zion, along with your sons, Javan, and I will make you like the sword of a mighty man. (Zechariah 9:13)

Here they stand for truth from a loving faith.