2943. 'To all entering into the gate of his city, saying' means matters of doctrine through which one comes to faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a gate' as a place of entry and so as that which, in the same way as a door, leads in, dealt with in 2145, 2152, 2356, 2385, and from the meaning of 'a city' as truth, which constitutes faith, dealt with in 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712. In the Ancient Church a city was not like the city of later or of modern times. That is to say, a city did not consist of a collection or gathering together of individuals but of separate families living side by side. A family descended from the same forefather constituted a city. The city of Nahor, for example, to which Abraham's servant went to betroth Rebekah to Isaac, Genesis 24:10, consisted of the family of Nahor which was there. And Shalem, the city of Shechem, to which Jacob came after his departure from Paddan Aram, Genesis 33:18 and the whole of Chapter 34, consisted of the family of Hamor and Shechem which was there. And the same was so with all other cities in those times.

[2] And as it had come down to them from the most ancient people that nations and families represented heavenly communities, and so the things of love and charity, 685, 1159, therefore when a city is mentioned instead of a family, and a people instead of a nation, truth that constitutes faith is meant. It is also why in the genuine sense the city of God and the holy city mean faith in the Lord. And as 'a city' meant faith, 'the gate of the city' means matters of doctrine through which one comes to faith. The same was also meant in the Jewish representative Church by the judges and elders sitting in the gate of the city and giving judgement there, as is evident from historical sections of the Word, and also in Zechariah,

These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth, everyone to his companion; judge in your gates the truth and the judgement of peace. Zechariah 8:16.

And in Amos,

Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgement in the gate. Amos 5:15.

'A gate' also means the place of entry into the rational mind, and the rational mind is compared to a city, see 2851.

8020. It is plainly evident from the statutes and laws regarding the eating of the Passover lamb which appear in this chapter that in every detail they contain and conceal heavenly arcana, and that without knowledge gained from the internal sense one can see no more in them than the outward form of a religious custom, and nothing heavenly, let alone Divine. Without that knowledge one does not know the reason for any of the following: Why the Passover animal was to be a lamb or a kid; why the animal was to be a male, and 'the son of a year'; why it was to be slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the month; why the blood from it was to be sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel; why it was to be eaten roasted with fire, together with unleavened bread on bitter herbs, and not any of it raw or boiled in water; why its head was to be roasted over its legs and over its middle; why none of it was to be left till morning, and why what remained was to be burned with fire; why they were to eat unleavened bread for seven days, and why anyone eating anything made with yeast was to be cut off; why the foreigner, the stranger, and the hired servant could not eat it, but a man's slave, a purchase paid for with silver, and a sojourner, could eat it if they were circumcised; why it was to be eaten in one house and none of the flesh was to be brought outside; and why no bone of it was to be broken. What these and very many other regulations hold within them, and why they were commanded, would remain completely unknown unless the laws of order in the spiritual world to which they correspond were known, unless knowledge were acquired from the internal sense of what each regulation means in that world, that is, in heaven, and in particular unless the belief existed that all of them contain a spiritual level of meaning. Unless every single one contained this spiritual level of meaning the angels present with a person would understand little or scarcely anything of the Word when read by the person; for all the things which have been described in the Word in a natural way are understood by the angels on a spiritual level of meaning.