3115. 'And a place to spend the night' means that state. This is clear from the meaning of 'a place' as a state, dealt with in 2625, 2837, and from the meaning of 'spending the night' as abiding or having a resting-place, dealt with in 2330. Here therefore the state of the affection for truth, as to its origin, is meant. Its origin is described by the things represented by Bethuel, Milkah, and Nahor, and its relationships by Laban who is mentioned later on. Since the origin of that affection is obscure its state is therefore meant by 'a place to spend the night', as also above in 3111.

1380. The fact that place, change of place, and distance in the next life are also an illusion has been made clear to me from the consideration that by means of delusions spirits can in an instant be taken up on high, as high as possible, and in the same instant taken into the depths, as well as being taken, so to speak, from one end of the universe to the other. Indeed by means of delusions witches and magicians in the next life induce others to believe that when they are in one place they are also simultaneously in another, or even in many places. In this way they pretend to be present everywhere. People who have aspired to great heights during their lifetime, as well as people who were deceivers, often appear overhead. Yet they are still in hell underfoot. As soon as their arrogance is taken away from them they sink down into their own hell, as I have been shown. This is not an appearance but an illusion, for, as has been stated, there are two types of changes of place - the first being that in which every spirit and angel remains all the time in his own position, which is an appearance; and the second being that in which each appears in a place which is not his actual position, which is an illusion.