Jacob’s Ladder

When Jacob left home after deceiving his father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing that Isaac had intended for Esau (Gn 27:6-40), he was not only desirous of finding a wife from among the daughters of his mother’s brother, but he was also literally fleeing for his life, because Esau had determined to kill him (v 41). When he stopped to rest for the night in the open countryside, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and blessed him (28:10-22). In the vision Jacob saw a ladder reaching from the earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it. At the top of the ladder stood the Lord himself, who confirmed to Jacob the promise previously given to Abraham (12:2-3, 7), and repeated to Isaac (26:3-5). In the context it seems clear that the ladder with the ascending and descending angels depicts God reaching out to Jacob and making a way for Jacob to have a relationship with him. The communion that was to exist between God and Jacob is symbolized in the ladder and the movement of the angels. This communication between heaven and earth appears to be the same point that is made in John 1:50 when Jesus says to Nathanael and his other disciples, “You will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man” (NLT). Jacob was so overwhelmed by God’s grace in revealing himself to him in this way that he named the place at which this took place Bethel—the House of God.