4217. 'And Laban went and resumed to his place' means the end of the representation by means of Laban. This is clear from the meaning of 'returning to his place' as going back to a previous state - for 'place' means state, see 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 3404 - and therefore the words used here mean the end of the representation by means of Laban. All that has been shown makes it clear that every single part of the Word has an interior content, which is of such a nature that it is suited to the perception of the angels present with man. For example, when the word 'bread' is used in the Word the angels do not call to mind material bread but spiritual bread, and so instead of bread perceive the Lord who, as He Himself teaches in John 6:33, 35, is the Bread of life. And because they perceive the Lord they perceive the things which derive from Him, and therefore His love towards the whole human race. In so doing they perceive at the same time man's reciprocal love to the Lord, for these two kinds of love are knit together within one idea occupying their thought and affection.

[2] Not unlike this are the thoughts of the person who has a holy mind, when he receives the bread in the Holy Supper; for at that time he does not think of the bread but of the Lord and His mercy, and of the things which constitute love to Him and charity towards the neighbour, because he is thinking about repentance and amendment of life. Yet the way people think about these things varies according to the degree of holiness present not only in their thought but also in their affection. From this it is evident that when 'bread' is mentioned in the Word no idea of bread presents itself to angels but the idea of love and of countless things connected with love. It is similar when wine is referred to in the Word and also received in the Holy Supper. In this case angels do not think at all of wine but of charity towards the neighbour. This being so, and since man in this way is linked to heaven and through heaven to the Lord, bread and wine have been made the symbols and unite a person who leads a holy life to heaven, and through heaven to the Lord.

[3] The same applies to every detail within the Word, and therefore the Word is the means by which man is united to the Lord. If that uniting means did not exist heaven would not be able to flow in with man - for without a means no uniting together would be possible - but would remove itself from him. And if heaven were removed it would no longer be possible for anyone to be led to that which is good, not even to physical and worldly good. Instead all restraints, including external ones, would be abolished. For the Lord governs the person in whom good dwells by means of internal restraints, which are those of conscience, whereas the person in whom evil dwells is governed solely by external restraints. If these were abolished everybody governed solely by external restraints would become insane in the way a person is insane who has no fear of the law, no fear for his life, nor any fear of losing position and gain, and so of reputation - for these are the external bonds - and so the human race would perish. This explains why the Word exists, and the true nature of the Word. The Lord's Church where the Word exists is like the heart and the lungs, and the Lord's Church where it does not exist is like all the other internal organs which get their life from the heart and lungs - see 637, 931, 2054, 2853.

3404. 'Isaac sowed in that land' means interior truths from the Lord as they appear to the rational. This is clear from the meaning of 'sowing' in the highest sense as Divine Truth from the Lord who is the Sower, 3038, and in the internal sense as the truth and good residing with a person, which stem from that Divine Truth, 3373; and from the meaning of 'land' as rational concepts which, when enlightened from the Divine, are appearances of truth, 3368, or what amounts to the same, are interior truths from the Lord as they appear to the rational. These appearances or truths belong on a higher degree, for as far as verse 14 it is these that are the subject in the internal sense. These appearances of truth are the kind that exist with angels, and are such as go immeasurably above anyone's understanding as long as he lives in the world.

[2] To make it clearer still what appearances of truth are, let the following example be added: It is well known that the Divine is infinite as regards Being (Esse) and eternal as regards Manifestation (Existere), and that what is finite is incapable of comprehending what is infinite, or indeed of comprehending what is eternal, since what is eternal is the Manifestation (Existere) of what is infinite. And because the Divine itself is infinite and eternal, so are all things which proceed from the Divine infinite and also eternal. And as those things are infinite angels are quite incapable of grasping them, for they too are finite beings. That being so, things that are infinite and eternal present themselves to angels within appearances that are finite, though within appearances such as are very far above the range of what man can comprehend. For example, man is quite incapable of possessing any idea of what is eternal except from what is temporal. And being incapable of having any idea other than this he is incapable of comprehending what 'from eternity' is and so what the Divine prior to the existence of time or creation of the world is. And as long as his thinking contains any idea at all that is formed from what is temporal, he slips inevitably, if he thinks about what is eternal, into errors from which he cannot be rescued. But the angels, whose ideas are not formed from anything temporal but from timeless state, are enabled to perceive it supremely well, for to them eternity is not eternity of time but eternity of state devoid of any idea of that which is temporal.

[3] From this one may see what the appearances existing with angels are like compared with man's, and how superior their appearances are to man's. For man cannot have one shred of thought, not even the least shred, that is not in some way temporal and spatial in origin, whereas angels' thought has no such origin at all. Instead their thought has its origin in timeless state, in which the being (esse) and the manifestation (existere) of things is the only consideration. These few comments show the nature of the appearances of truth which are the subject in these verses, and that these appearances belong to a higher degree. The verses that follow deal in order with the appearances of truth that belong to a lower degree which are also suitable to the human race.