3492. And it came to pass that Isaac was old. That this signifies when the state was at hand, is evident from the signification of "growing old," as being the presence of a new state; for in the Word "old age" signifies both the putting off of a former state, and the putting on of a new one; and this for the reason that old age is the last of age, when corporeal things begin to be put off, and with them the loves of the preceding age, and thus when the interiors begin to be enlightened, for these are enlightened when corporeal things are removed; and also because the angels, who perceive in a spiritual manner the things that are in the Word, have no longer any idea of any old age, but instead of it an idea of new life, thus here an idea that the state was at hand, namely, that the Divine rational which is represented by Isaac desired a natural corresponding to itself, that is, one that would also be Divine.
