The fourth commandment of the Decalogue is that parents must be honored.
This commandment was given because honor to parents represented and thus
signified love to the Lord and love toward the church, for "father" in
the heavenly sense, that is, the Heavenly Father, is the Lord; and
"mother" in the heavenly sense, that is, the heavenly mother, is the
church; "honor" signifies good of love; and "length of days," which such
will have, signifies the happiness of eternal life. So is this
commandment understood in heaven, where no father but the Lord is known,
and no mother but the kingdom of the Lord, which is also the church.
For the Lord gives life from Himself, and through the church He gives
nourishment. That in the heavenly sense no father in the world can be
meant, and indeed, when man is in a heavenly idea, can be mentioned, the
Lord teaches in Matthew:
"Call no man your father on earth; for one is your Father who is in the
heavens" (xxiii. 9).
That "Father" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine good may be seen
in the Apocalypse Explained (n. 32, 200, 254, 297). That "mother"
signifies the Lord's kingdom, the church, and Divine truth, may be seen
in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 5581, 8897); that
"length of days" signifies the happiness of eternal life (n. 8898); and
the "honor" signifies good of love (n. 8897), and Apocalypse Explained
(n. 228, 345). All this makes clear that the third and fourth
commandments involve arcana relating to the Lord, namely, acknowledgment
and confession of His Divine, and worship of Him from good of love.
(A.E., n. 966.)