8539. 'They ate the man[na] until they came to the border of the land of Canaan' means that they went on making good from truth their own, until they reached the region of heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the man[na]' as the good of truth; from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, as just above in 8537; and from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as heaven, as above in 8538, so that 'the border of the land of Canaan' is the entrance to heaven, or the region where heaven begins. From all these meanings it is evident that 'they ate the man[na] until they came to the border of the land of Canaan' means that they were making the good of truth their own until they reached the region of heaven.

[2] The nature of all this is evident from what has been stated already about the acquisition of good through truth. It has been stated that before regeneration all good is obtained by means of truth, but that after regeneration a person is led by the Lord by means of good; also that the former state is meant by the six days which come before the seventh, and that the latter state is meant by the seventh day or the sabbath. From this it is also evident that the former state was represented by the travels of the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years, and that the latter state was represented by their being led into the land of Canaan. For the situation is this: A person is outside heaven all the time that his actions spring from truth and not from good. But then he enters heaven when they do spring from good; for they now spring from the Lord and are in keeping with the order of heaven. He does not attain this order, nor does he therefore enter heaven where order exists and which is order until he has been prepared, which happens when he is brought to good by means of truth. Regarding these two states, see what has been shown above in 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516.

8510. 'That some of the people went out to gather, and did not find' means that they wished to acquire it, but none was given. This is clear from the explanation above in 8505. The explanation there shows what actions springing from the truth of faith are and what those springing from the good of charity are. That is to say, it shows that a person whose actions spring from the truth of faith does not as yet have the order of heaven present in himself, whereas one whose actions spring from the good of charity does have it. For, according to order, when the Lord leads a person He does so through his will, consequently through good since this belongs properly to the will. In that case his understanding is subservient, and so is truth since this belongs properly to the understanding. When this state exists it is the sabbath, for then there is rest for the Lord; and the state comes into being once good has been joined to truth. That this state is the Lord's rest may be recognized from the statement that after six days of creation and labour Jehovah or the Lord rested on the seventh day from all His work, Genesis 2:2. This state is heaven's state, which explains why heaven itself is called the sabbath, and that in heaven the sabbath is perpetual. For the creation story in Genesis 1 serves to mean the new creation, which is regeneration, and the six days in the story serves to mean temptations and conflicts, see the explanations at Genesis 1, 2.