“The eyes are the windows of the soul.” That's a sentiment with roots somewhere in murky antiquity, but one that has become hopelessly cliché because it is both poetic and obviously true. We feel that if we can look in someone's eyes, we can truly know what they are inside. And it's not just the eyes; really it is the face as a whole that conveys this. As Swedenborg puts it, the face is “man's spiritual world presented in his natural world” (Heaven and Hell, No. 91). Our faces reveal our interior thoughts and feelings in myriad ways, which is why psychologists, poker players and criminal investigators spend so much time studying them. It makes sense, then, that people's faces in the Bible represent their interiors, the thoughts, loves and desires they hold most deeply. We turn our faces to the ground to show humility when we bow in worship; we turn them to the mountains when seeking inspiration; we turn them toward our enemies when we are ready to battle temptation. When things are hard, we need to “face facts,” or accept them internally. When the topic is the Lord's face, it represents the Lord's interiors, which are perfect love and perfect mercy. And when people turn away from the Lord and refuse his love, it is described as the Lord “hiding his face.”

(Referenties: Heaven and Hell 91)

8191. Verses 19-22 And the angel of God travelled on, marching before the camp of Israel; and he went behind them. And the pillar of cloud travelled from before them and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was cloud and darkness [for the former], and it lit up the night [for the latter]. And the latter did not come near the former the whole night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah caused the sea to go away by a strong east wind the whole night, and made the sea into dry ground; and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel came into the middle of the sea on dry ground; and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left.

'And the angel of God travelled on' means rearrangement by Divine Truth. 'Marching before the camp of Israel' means which involved the Church's truths and forms of good. 'And he went behind them' means protection to prevent the inflow of the falsity of evil into the will. 'And the pillar of cloud travelled from before them and stood behind them' means the Lord's presence protecting things of the will as it had previously protected those of the understanding. 'And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel' means that it came between the falsities of evil on the one side and the truths of good on the other. 'And it was cloud and darkness [for the former]' means that the falsity arising from evil on the one side was intensified. 'And it lit up the night [for the latter]' means that the truth springing from good on the other side was lightened. 'And the latter did not come near the former' means that as a result no communication took place. 'The whole night' means in the state of obscurity. 'And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea' means the exercising of power by God's truth over hell. 'And Jehovah caused the sea to go away by a strong east wind' means the agent through which falsity was dispersed. 'The whole night' means in the state of obscurity. 'And made the sea into dry ground' means the dispersing of falsity. 'And the waters were divided' means separation from truths, and removal. 'And the children of Israel came into the middle of the sea on dry ground' means the entrance into hell by those who belonged to the spiritual Church and their passage through it in safety and without falsity flowing in. 'And the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left' means that they were held back from falsities on every side.