The East has special significance in the Bible – Eden was described as being to the east, Moses and Aaron’s tribe camped to the east of the Tabernacle and wise men came from the east seeking the baby Messiah, to name a few examples. The reason for this is simple and beautiful: The east is where the sun rises, and the sun is the natural expression of the Lord himself, so the east represents the Lord, in all the warmth of his love and light of his wisdom.
In fact, Swedenborg says the Lord’s presence in the east is so powerful that in heaven – where space is a more relative thing that it is in the natural world – angels are always facing east, no matter how they might turn themselves. This is because their ruling loves come from the Lord, and flow into them constantly. That might sound somewhat strange to our narrow minds, suffused as they are in time and space, but it’s also rather beautiful if you can somewhat grasp it.
In other references, “east” can also represent attributes that flow from the Lord’s love – especially the caring love we can have toward each other. And in some cases – especially in descriptions of an “east wind” – it can depict the battered, bereft state of those who turn away from the Lord, away from the sun, and dwell in cold and dimness.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 101
101. The Lord is ‘the east’. This too is clear from several places in the Word, as in Ezekiel,
He brought me to the gate, to the gate facing the way of the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. Ezek. 43:1, 2, 4.
The Lord’s being ‘the east’ was the reason for the sacred practice in the Jewish representative Church, before the Temple was built, of facing eastwards when praying.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1451
1451. ‘Being removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel means an advance made in the celestial things of love. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ as that which is celestial, as shown in 795, 796; from the meaning of ‘the east’ as Jehovah Himself as regards love, who is the east itself, as has also been shown in 101 and elsewhere; and also from the meaning of ‘Bethel’ as knowledge of celestial things. Celestial things are implanted both independently of cognitions and together with cognitions. The implantation independently of cognitions occurs during infancy to childhood, as stated just above, whereas the implantation of them together with cognitions occurs after that, from childhood into adult life. And since the Lord was to advance into cognitions of celestial things, which are meant by ‘Bethel’, it is said here that ‘he removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel’.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3249
3249. ‘Eastwards to the land of the east’ means towards the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the east’ and ‘the land of the east’, to be dealt with below. The good of faith which is meant by ‘the land of the east’ is nothing else but that which in the Word is called charity towards the neighbour. And charity towards the neighbour is nothing else than a life according to the Lord’s commandments. This is what ‘the land of the east’ means, see 1250. Those therefore who possessed cognitions regarding the good of faith were called ‘the sons of the east’. The land of the sons of the eastwas Aram or Syria – Aram or Syria meaning cognitions of good, see 1232, 1234, and Aram Naharaim or Syria of the [Two] Rivers cognitions of truth, 3051. And because the Syrians, or ‘the sons of theeast’ means those who possessed cognitions of good and truth, they above all others were referred to as wise, as in 1 Kings where Solomon is referred to,
The wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east. 1 Kings 4:30.
And in Matthew, in reference to those who came to Jesus at His birth,
Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him. Matt. 2:1, 2.
[2] Indeed in Syria there existed the final remnants of the Ancient Church, which is why cognitions of good and truth still remained there, as also becomes clear from Balaam who not only worshipped Jehovah but also prophesied concerning the Lord and called Him,
A star out of Jacob and a sceptre out of Israel. Num. 24:17.
The fact that he belonged to the sons of the east in Syria is self-evident, for he says of himself when delivering his discourse,
From Syria Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. Num. 23:7.
The fact that Aram or Syria was where the sons of the east lived is made additionally clear from the consideration that when Jacob went to Syria he is said to have gone to the land of the sons of the east, Gen. 29:1.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1250
1250. That ‘the mountain of the east’ means charity, indeed charity from the Lord, is clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ in the Word as love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, as shown already in 795. And that ‘the east’ means the Lord, and consequently the celestial things of love and charity, see again what has appeared already in 101, and also in the following places: In Ezekiel,
The cherubs lifted up their wings. The glory of Jehovah went up from over the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain, which is on the east of the city. Ezek. 11:22, 23.
Here ‘the mountain which is on the east’ means nothing other than the celestial manifestation of the love and the charity that is the Lord’s, for it is said that ‘the glory of Jehovah stood there’. In the same prophet,
He brought me to the gate, to the gate facing the way of the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. Ezek. 43:1, 2.
Here ‘the east’ has a similar meaning.
Divine Love and Wisdom (Dole) n. 122
122. Since the east is the basis on which all the regions in the spiritual world are laid out, and since theeast in the highest sense means the Lord and divine love, we can see that the Lord and love for him is the source of everything. We can also see that to the extent that people do not share in that love, they are far from him and live either in the west or in the south or in the north, with the distance depending on their openness to love.
Heaven and Hell (Dole) n. 143
143. But that east is always in front of angels no matter which way they turn their faces and bodies-this is even harder to understand in our world, since for us, the direction that is in front of us depends on which way we are facing; so this too needs to be explained.
Angels turn and direct their faces and bodies in any direction just as we do, but still, the east is always before their eyes. The way angels turn is not the way we turn, since it comes from a different origin. The two modes of turning look the same, but they are not. The origin [for angels] is a ruling love. It is the basis of all delimitation for angels and spirits; for, as noted just above, their deeper levels are actually turned toward their common center. So in heaven they are turned toward the Lord as the sun; and since love is constantly in front of their deeper levels, and their faces are manifestations of these levels (being their outward form), the love that is predominant is always in front of their faces. In heaven, then, this is the Lord as the sun, since he is the source of all their love.