1035. 'And never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth' means that such deadly and stifling persuasion will never manifest itself again. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'the flood' in reference to the people before the Flood who perished, dealt with already, also from their dreadful persuasions, dealt with in 310, 563, 570, 581, 586, as well as from details concerning the Church called Noah that followed, and further still from what is mentioned below concerning the rainbow.

563. When such persuasion gets a hold on someone it is like glue in which the goods and truths that would otherwise be remnants are stuck fast, and as a result remnants can no longer be stored away; and those that have been stored away cannot be of any use. For this reason when those people reached the summit of such persuasion they underwent annihilation caused by themselves, and were drowned by an inundation not unlike a flood. This is why their annihilation is compared to a flood, and is also described, according to the custom of the most ancient people, as 'the Flood'.