'Jacob took for himself fresh rods of poplar' means the power proper to natural good. 'And hazel and plane' means the power deriving from this which natural truths possess. 'And stripped white strips on them - an exposing of the white which was on the rods' means an ordering effected by the interior power of truth. 'And he set the rods which he had stripped in runners' means further preparation. 'In the troughs of water where the flocks came to drink' means affections for truth. 'In front of the flocks; and they came on heat as they came to drink' means even to the point of an intense desire in the affection for truth that a joining [to the goods and truths within the natural] might be effected. 'And the flocks were on heat at the roast means the effect produced by His own power. 'And the flocks brought forth variegated, speckled, and spotted ones' means that as a consequence natural good itself possessed such things, from the intermediate good meant by Laban. 'And Jacob singled out the lambs' means as regards innocence. 'And set the faces of the flock towards the variegated' means towards truths interspersed with evils and falsities. 'And every black one' means towards such a state. 'In Laban's flock' means within the good meant by Laban. 'And he put his own droves apart' means the separation of goods and truths by His own power. 'And did not put them near Laban's flock' means total separation from the good meant by Laban.