6854. 'And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians' means that He would stoop down to them to release them from the power of false factual knowledge, which tries to destroy the truths of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming down' as stooping down, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'to deliver' as to release, for one who releases people from falsities delivers or sets them free; from the meaning of 'the hand' as the power, dealt with in 878, 3387, 3563, 4931-4937, 5544; and from the meaning of 'the Egyptians' as false factual knowledge, which is opposed to the Church's truths, dealt with in 6651, 6679, 6683, and so which tries to destroy them. As regards the Lord's coming down, the situation is that the Lord is said to come or stoop down when He comes to judgement, 1311, and also when He comes down to lower things, in this instance to those belonging to the spiritual Church, who are meant by 'the children of Israel'. For the subject in the internal sense is the way in which those people are molested by falsities, at which time they undergo temptations, and the way in which after that they are set free in order that they may be led into heaven.

[2] But the contents of the internal sense of this verse and of those that follow hold an even deeper mystery which the Church does not yet know about and which must therefore be disclosed. Those who are termed spiritual are people for whom only the understanding part of their mind, not the will part, can be regenerated. In the understanding part of their mind the Lord therefore implants a new will, a will which conforms to the teachings that compose the faith of their Church. These people, that is to say, spiritual ones such as these, were saved solely by the Lord's Coming into the world. The reason why is that the Divine passing through heaven, which was the Divine Human before the Lord's Coming, could not reach them; for to be sure the teachings of their Church were for the most part not truths, and consequently the good in their will was not good either, 6427. Since those people could be saved solely by the Lord's Coming, they could not be raised into heaven before then. They were therefore kept in the meantime on the lower earth, in places there which in the Word are called 'pits'. This lower earth was besieged on every side by the hells where there were falsities, by which they were molested greatly during that time. In spite of this however the Lord protected them. But after the Lord came into the world and made the Human within Himself Divine, He set free those who were in the pits there and raised them to heaven. From these He also formed the spiritual heaven which is the second heaven. This is what is meant by the Lord's descent into the lower parts ¹ and by His deliverance of those who had been bound.

[3] This is the even deeper mystery that is described in the internal sense of this verse and of those that follow. See what has been shown already regarding those who are spiritual,

The spiritual are in obscurity so far as the truth and good of faith are concerned, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3833, 6289.

Their obscurity is lightened by the Lord's Divine Human, 2716, 4402.

Because they are in obscurity so far as the truth and good of faith are concerned they are under strong attack from the hells; but the Lord is constantly protecting them, 6419.

Those who are spiritual cannot have the will part of their mind regenerated, only the understanding part; and there the Lord forms a new will, 863, 875, 895, 927, 918, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2156, 4328, 4493, 5113.

The spiritual were saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, 2833, 2834, 3969.

[4] Various places in the prophetical part of the Word mention 'the bound' or 'the bound in the pit' and the fact that the Lord delivered them. The bound' should be taken to mean specifically those spoken of just above, as in Isaiah,

I Jehovah have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, because I will guard you, and give you to be a covenant of the people, ² a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of prison, out of the dungeon-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.

In the same prophet,

I have guarded you, and I have given you as covenant of the people - to restore the land; to share out the devastated inheritances; to say to the bound, Go out; to those who are in darkness, Reveal yourselves. They will feed along the ways, and on all slopes will their pasture be. Isaiah 49:8-9.

This plainly refers to the Lord. 'The bound' stands in particular for those who were held back on the lower earth until the Lord's Coming, when they were raised up to heaven, and in general for all who are governed by good, yet are held back as though bound by falsities, from which however they wish to break away.

[5] In Zechariah,

Through the blood of your covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit. Zechariah 9:11.

In Isaiah,

They will surely be gathered together, the bound ones in the pit, and they will be shut up in the dungeon; after a multitude of days they will be visited. Isaiah 24:21.

'The bound ones in the pit' stands for the same people. And in addition to these places the same meaning can be seen from the following words in Isaiah,

Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the broken in heart; to preach liberty to captives, to those who are bound, to him who is blind; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure. Isaiah 61:1-2.

And elsewhere,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shone out. Isaiah 9:2.

Fusnotat:

6419. 'Daughters, [each one] marches onto the wall' means going out to fight against falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'a daughter' as the Church, dealt with in 2362, 3963, here the spiritual Church since that Church is the subject; and from the meaning of 'marching onto the wall' as going out to fight against falsity, as is evident from the words that immediately follow - 'they exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him, do the archers; and he will sit in the strength of his bow', meaning the fight put up by falsity against truth.

[2] The expression 'marches onto the wall' is used because the subject in the internal sense is the attack made by falsities on truth and the protection of truth against falsity; for the spiritual Church represented by 'Joseph' is constantly under attack, but the Lord is constantly protecting it. This explains why in the Word all that makes up that Church is compared to a city with a wall, rampart, gates, and bars; and attacks made on the city describe attacks made on truth by falsities. Hence it also is that 'a city' means matters of doctrine, 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493, and 'a wall' the truths of faith that serve to defend, or in the contrary sense falsities that serve to destroy. The first meaning - the truths of faith that serve to defend - may be seen in Isaiah,

Ours is a strong city; He will establish salvation for walls and rampart. Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Isaiah 26:1-2.

In the same prophet,

You will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. Isaiah 60:18.

In the same prophet,

Behold, I have engraved you upon [My] hands, your walls are continually before Me. Isaiah 49:16

'Walls' stands for the truths of faith. In the same prophet,

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have placed watchmen, all day and night they will not be silent, calling Jehovah to mind. Isaiah 62:6.

Here the meaning is similar. In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, ¹ I will convert the weapons of war with which you are fighting with the king of Babel, besieging you outside the wall; I Myself will fight with you with an outstretched hand. Jeremiah 21:4-5.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion, He caused rampart and wall to mourn; they will languish together. Her gates have sunk into the earth, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. Lamentations 2:8-9.

In Ezekiel,

The sons of Arvad, and your army, were on your walls round about, and the Gammadim were in your towers; they hung their shields on your walls round about and they made perfect your beauty. Ezekiel 27:11.

This refers to Tyre, which means cognitions of good and truth.

[3] The fact that such things are meant by a city and its walls becomes perfectly clear from the description of the holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, as seen by John. From every detail of the description it is evident that a new Church is meant by that city; and by its wall is meant Divine Truth going forth from the Lord. The city is depicted in John as follows,

The holy Jerusalem coming down from heaven, having a wall great and high, having twelve gates - the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He who talked to me measured the city and its gates, and its wall. Its wall was a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The structure of the wall was jasper, and the city pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone. Revelation 21:10, 12, 14, 15, 17-19.

[4] The fact that 'the wall' means Divine Truth going forth from the Lord, and from this means the truth of faith coming out of the good of charity, is evident from the details regarding the wall that are mentioned in that description, such as the detail that the wall had twelve foundations, and in them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; for 'twelve means all, 3272, 3858, 3913, and 'the wall and its foundations' the truths of faith - much the same as is meant by 'the twelve apostles', 3488, 3858 (end), 6397. Then there is the detail that the wall was a hundred and forty-four cubits high, much the same being meant by that number as by twelve, which is all, since it is the product of twelve multiplied by twelve. And since that number used in reference to the wall means all truths and goods of faith, the expression 'which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel' is added. Other details that are given are that the structure of the wall was jasper, and that its foundations were adorned with every precious stone; for 'jasper' and 'precious stones' mean the truths of faith, 114.

[5] The meaning of 'wall' in the contrary sense - falsities that serve to destroy - is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

A day of tumult in the valley of vision. The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has destroyed the wall, so that there is a shout towards the mountain. For Elam bore the quiver with chariots of men (homo), [and] horsemen. The horsemen surely positioned themselves right at the gate. Isaiah 22:5-7.

In the same prophet,

The defence-work of your walls providing refuge ² He will pull down, cast down, lay flat on the ground, ³ right down into the dust. Isaiah 25:12.

In Jeremiah,

Go up onto its walls and throw down. Jeremiah 5:10.

In the same prophet,

I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, which will consume the palaces of Benhadad. Jeremiah 49:27.

In the same prophet,

Raise a standard against the walls of Babel, keep watch, post watchmen. Jeremiah 51:12.

In Ezekiel,

They will overturn the walls of Tyre, and destroy her towers, and I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock. Ezekiel 16:4, 8-9, 11.

Fusnotat: