4083. 'That I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream' means the perception of natural good when in obscurity. This is clear from the meaning of 'lifting up the eyes' as thinking and also directing one's attention, dealt with in 2789, 2892, 3198, and so as perceiving; and from the meaning of 'in a dream' as being in obscurity, dealt with in 2514, 2528. The good of the natural is meant by 'Jacob'.

2892. The state of one who leads a good life and who believes that the Lord governs the universe, and that He alone is the source of everything good that flows from love and charity, and of everything true that is a matter of faith, and indeed that He is the source of all life - thus the state of one who believes that 'in Him we live, and move, and have our being' - is such that he can have heavenly freedom conferred on him, and with that freedom peace as well. For he trusts solely in the Lord and has no anxious cares about all else; he is quite sure that all things work for his good, blessedness, and happiness for ever. But one who believes that he governs himself is constantly agitated, being carried along into evil desires, into anxious cares about things of the future, and thus into a vast number of anxieties. And such being his belief, evil desires and false persuasions also cling to him.