Swedenborg says that when people or things are saved or rescued in the Bible, it represents getting true ideas that we can hold to even in the face of a storm of false thinking. Sometimes these can be profound and simple truths like “the Lord loves me and wants the best for me,” the Golden Rule or the Ten Commandments. And if we pray to the Lord asking sincerely for help, he will put in our minds ideas that can help us.
Many translations of the Bible also use the word “save” in a secondary way, as a synonym for “except.” In those cases it’s meaning is clear.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8236
- ‘And Jehovah saved Israel on that day from the hand of the Egyptians’ means that in this state the Lord protected those belonging to the spiritual Church from any violence on the part of falsities arising from evil. This is clear from the meaning of ‘saving’ as protecting; from the meaning of ‘on that day’ as in this state, ‘day’ meaning state, see 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785, 4850; from the representation of ‘Israel’ as those who belong to the spiritual Church, dealt with often; and from the representation of ‘the Egyptians’ as those steeped in falsities arising from evil, also dealt with often; from all of which it is evident that ‘saving from their hand’ is protecting from the violence of those steeped in falsities arising from evil.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 920
- 21:24 And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light. This symbolically means that all those people who live a good life and believe in the Lord will live in the New Church in accordance with Divine truths and will see those truths inwardly in themselves as the eye sees its objects.
The nations symbolize people who live a good life, and also people who live an evil life (no. 483). Here they symbolize people who live a good life and believe in the Lord, because they are called nations that are saved. To walk in light means, symbolically, to live in accordance with Divine truths and to see them inwardly in oneself as the eye sees objects.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6780
- ‘And Moses rose up and helped them’ means aid brought by truths which the law from God possesses. This is clear from the representation of ‘Moses’ as truth which the law from God possesses, dealt with above in 6771; and from the meaning of ‘helping’ as bringing aid.