AC 6844 - "Pull off they shoes from upon thy feet." (Exodus 3:5)

AC 6844
"Pull off thy shoes from upon thy feet. "
(Genesis 3:5)
That this signifies that sensuous things,
which are the externals of the natural,
must be removed,
is evident from the signification of "shoes,"
as being the sensuous things
which are the externals of the natural.
. . . the externals of the natural are of such a nature
that they cannot be present
when the Divine is the object of holy thought;
therefore, as at that time
representatives were to be observed,
Moses was not allowed to approach
with shoes on his feet.

That sensuous things,
which are the externals of the natural,
are of such a nature that they cannot receive the Divine,
is because they are in things
worldly, bodily, and even earthly . . ..
So it is that when a person is in these sensuous things,
and is thinking from them,
he thinks no otherwise of the Divine
than as he thinks about earthly things,
and if he is in evil
he thinks from these sensuous things
quite against the Divine.
Therefore if when a person is thinking
about such things as are of faith and love to God
he is in good,
he is elevated from the sensuous things
which are the externals of the natural,
toward interior things,
consequently from earthly and worldly things
nearer to heavenly and spiritual things.
and the external by the "shoes."