9215. 'It is his clothing for his skin' means that they also clothe relatively external things. This is clear from the meaning of 'clothing' as the sensory level in general or things on that level, as above; and from the meaning of 'skin' as that which is relatively external, which also clothes more internal things but still exists within those on the sensory level. What 'the skin' means, and who exactly correspond to the skin in the next life, see 3540, 5552-5559, 8977, 8980. The natural degree of the human mind has a rather internal level, a relatively external or middle level, and an outermost level. The more internal level of the natural is in contact with heaven; the middle or relatively external level is in contact on one side with the more internal, and through this with heaven, and on the other side with the outermost, and through this with the world, see 4009, 4570, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649, 5707. The outermost level of the natural is that of the senses, which is meant here by 'clothing'. This level receives impressions of objects in the world and thereby serves more internal things. It is called 'his only covering' because it is the last and lowest and so is general to all, the relatively external or middle level of the natural being the one meant by 'skin'. From this it is evident that 'his clothing for his skin' means that the sensory level also clothes relatively external things. The fact that the sensory level is the last and lowest of a person's life, and so is a general covering, see 4009, 5077, 5125, 5128, 5767, 5774, 6201, 6313, 7442, 7693.

7693. 'In the whole land of Egypt' means on every side in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind, and so the natural, dealt with in 7674. Since 'the locust', which has been the subject here, means falsity in the outermost parts, that is, in the sensory level of the human mind, let me say what the sensory level is in order that people may thereby know what falsity in the outermost parts of the mind is. A sensory-minded person, or a person whose thought and actions are reduced to the sensory level, is one who does not believe anything unless it is palpable to his outward senses, and who is led solely by bodily appetites, pleasure-seeking desires, and covetous passions, and not by rational ways of thinking. Ideas that lend support to urges such as these are what he believes to be rational ways of thinking. Being like this a sensory-minded person denies the existence of everything of an internal nature, until at length he will not even allow it to be mentioned. Consequently he refuses in his heart to believe in anything whatever of heaven. He does not have any belief in life after death, because he considers life to reside solely in the body. He therefore also supposes that when he dies it will be the same for him as for an animal. That person thinks so to speak on the surface, that is, on the lowest or outermost levels, and he is totally unaware of the existence of interior thought that is dependent on the perception of what is true and good. The reason why he is not aware of this, nor even of the existence of an internal man, is that the inner parts of his mind look down towards things of the world, the body, and the earth, and make one with them. They have therefore been diverted from looking upwards or towards heaven, for they are turned in the opposite direction. Looking upwards or towards heaven does not consist in thinking about the things of heaven but in having them as one's end in view, that is, loving them above all else. For in whatever direction love turns, the inner parts of a person's mind turn, and so too his thought. All this goes to show the nature of the sensory level of a person's mind, or the natural in its outermost parts, for a person who thinks on the sensory level is called sensory-minded.