3721. 'And this is the gate of heavens means that which serves as the ultimate degree of order, through which there is, so to speak, a way in from the natural creation. This is clear from the meaning of 'the gate' as that through which exit or entrance is made. The reason why here that which serves as the ultimate degree of order is meant is that the subject is the natural, which 'Jacob' represents. What 'a gate' means is clear from what has been stated and shown in 2851, 3187, and the fact that the natural is the ultimate degree of order from what has been introduced in 775, 2181, 2987-3002, 3020, 3147, 3167, 3483, 3489, 3513, 3570, 3576, 3671. The reason why through that ultimate degree there is so to speak a way in from the natural creation is that man's natural mind is the place through which things of heaven, that is, which are the Lord's, flow in and come down into the natural creation; and through that same mind the things that belong to the natural creation go back up, see 3702. The fact that there is so to speak an entrance from the natural creation through the natural mind into interior parts may be seen from what has been stated and shown in various places before.

[2] It seems to man as though worldly objects enter in through his physical or external senses and affect interior things, and so that there is an entrance from the ultimate degree of order into things that are within. But this is an appearance and illusion, as is evident from the general rule that what is secondary cannot flow into what is primary, or what amounts to the same, what is lower cannot flow into what is higher, or what is also the same, what is exterior into what is interior, or what is still the same, things of the world and the natural creation into those of heaven and of the spirit. For the former are grosser, the latter purer, and the grosser things that belong to the external or natural man come into being and are kept in being from those belonging to the internal or rational man. Those grosser things are unable to have any effect on the purer things but are affected by them. The nature of this influx however, seeing that appearance and illusion itself convince people that the reverse is true, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed separately, where influx is the subject. This then is why it is said that through the ultimate degree of order there is, so to speak, a way in from the natural creation.

3166. 'And he gave precious things to her brother' means spiritual things passing from there to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'precious things' as spiritual things, dealt with in what follows, and from the meaning of 'a brother' as natural good, dealt with in 3160, and also of 'Laban', to whom 'her brother' refers here, as the affection for good in the natural man, dealt with in 3129, 3130. It is also clear from other parts of the Word that 'precious things' means spiritual things, for example, from the reference to Joseph in Moses,

Blessed by Jehovah is his land, in regard to the precious things of heaven, to the dew, and to the deep lying beneath, and to the precious things of the fruits of the sun, and to the precious things of the produce of the months, and to the precious things of the eternal hills, and to the precious things of the earth and of its fulness. Deuteronomy 33:13-16.

Here 'the precious things of heaven', 'the precious things of the fruits of the sun', 'the precious things of the produce of the months', 'the precious things of the eternal hills', and 'the precious things of the earth' mean various kinds of spiritual things. The word 'precious' was also applied to precious stones, pearls, balms, spices, and similar commodities, which all mean spiritual things.

[2] What spiritual things are has been stated many times already, namely that in the Lord's kingdom there are celestial things and there are spiritual things. Celestial things are forms of good, spiritual things forms of truth from that good. Nothing exists in the universe that is unrelated to good or to truth. Everything to do with use and life is related to good, whereas everything to do with doctrine and knowledge, in particular concerning use and life, is related to truth. Or what amounts to the same, that which belongs to the will is called good or evil, whereas that which belongs to the understanding is referred to as truth or falsity. Good therefore, being that alone which is the expression of love and charity and which flows in from the Lord, is celestial, whereas truth, being that which springs from good, is spiritual. The reason 'precious things' were given to the brother when 'vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments' were given to the sister when she became a bride was that the brother meant good in the natural man, and this good is enlightened when truth is introduced into good in the rational. Indeed this is the origin of all enlightenment of good and truth in the natural man.