3802. Verses 12-13 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father. And so it was, when Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things. 'Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother' means the kinship of the good represented by 'Jacob' and of the good represented by 'Laban'. 'And that he was Rebekah's son' means the link between these kindred varieties of good. 'And she ran and told her father' means acknowledgement by means of interior truths. 'And so it was, when Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son' means an acknowledgement of the kindred good. 'That he ran to meet him' means agreement. 'And embraced him' means affection. 'And kissed him' means the initial stage. 'And brought him to his house' means to their being joined together. 'And he told Laban all these things' means from truths.

2739. From the marriage of good and truth in heaven all loves are descended, which are such as the love of parents towards their children, the love of brothers for one another, love towards other relatives, and so on down in their order according to their degrees of affinity. According to these loves that have their origin solely in good and truth, that is, in love and faith to the Lord, all heavenly communities are formed. And these are joined together by the Lord in such a way that they resemble a human being, which also is why heaven is called the Grand Man. There are indescribable varieties, all of which have their origin in and are derived from the union of good and truth from the Lord, which union is the heavenly marriage. This explains why on earth the origin of all blood relationships and other family relationships is traced back to marriages, and why in a similar way different kinds of love used to be derived according to the degrees of affinity among them. But as conjugial love does not exist at the present day, blood relationships and other family relationships are indeed worked out from marriages, but no comparable relationships of love exist. In the Most Ancient Church derivations of love were of this nature, and therefore in heaven those people dwell together, distinguished so to speak into separate nations, families, and houses, all of which acknowledge the Lord as their one and only parent.