710. Enter thou end all thy house into the ark. That this signifies the things that are of the will, is therefore evident. In the preceding chapter, where the things of the understanding are meant, it is expressed differently, namely: "Thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee" (verse 18). That a "house" signifies the will and what is of the will, is evident in various places in the Word; as in Jeremiah:
Their houses shall be turned over unto others, their fields and their wives together (Jer. 6:12).
Here "houses" and also "fields" and "wives" relate to things which are of the will. Again:
Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them (Jer. 29:5, 28).
Here "building houses and dwelling in them" relates to the will; "planting gardens" to the understanding: and it is the same in other passages. And the "house of Jehovah" is frequently mentioned as signifying the church wherein love is the principal; the "house of Judah" as signifying the celestial church; and the "house of Israel" as signifying the spiritual church. As "house" signifies the church, the mind of the man of the church (wherein are the things of the will and of the understanding, or of charity and faith), is also signified by "house."