41. Anything that is man's own has no life in it; and when depicted visually it looks like something hard as a bone and black. But anything that comes from the Lord does contain life. It has that which is spiritual and celestial within it, and when depicted visually it looks human and alive. It is perhaps incredible, but nevertheless absolutely true, that every expression, every idea, and every least thought of an angelic spirit is alive. In even the most detailed areas of his thought there is an affection that comes from the Lord, who is life itself. Consequently all that derives from the Lord has life within it, for it contains faith in Him, and is here meant by 'a living creature'. It then has the outward appearance of a body, meant here by that which is moving, or creeping. To man these matters remain arcana, but since the subject here is the living and moving creature, they ought at least to be mentioned here.

4346. 'And he himself passed over in front of them' means that which is universal and so means all things. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'he' refers here, as that good of truth, that is, truth in will and action, dealt with in 4337. The good of truth is the universal embodiment of every kind of truth, for the general, the particular, and the specific kinds of it spoken of immediately above all go with it because they are included within it.