Genesis 28:12, commentary and pictures

In a night dream given to lonely, guilty Jacob as he fled as a homeless fugitive lying on the ground with stones for a pillow, a shining ladder stood firmly on the earth and reached to the highest heaven with angels of God continually ascending and descending upon it and the Lord Himself in light above its top. The ladder is Jesus Christ, the appointed connecting link joining finite humanity to the infinite God, whose foot on earth is His humanity and sympathy and whose top on the throne is His divinity and oneness with the Father, bridging the gulf made by sin so communion is restored. Through Him alone heaven is opened and communication is resumed, so pardon, access to the Father, and all ministering help come only by holding fast to Christ and climbing by His merits and righteousness. The ascending and descending angels carry the prayers, petitions and praise of the needy upward and bring blessing, help, courage and instruction downward, guarding, guiding and cooperating with those who seek salvation. The vision was given in mercy to encourage Jacob when discouraged and in danger, showing the plan of redemption and God's gracious presence, and it remains the way of life today to be ascended round after round by living faith, looking to God above for strength until entering the kingdom.

Jacob's Distress and Setting

The dream was given on the second day and second evening of flight, far from his father's tents, when Jacob was a lonely fugitive fleeing his brother after deception over the birthright, feeling forsaken, guilty, an outcast and cut off from God. Weary, hungry and homeless, he lay on the ground in a dreary wilderness with earth for a bed, stones for a pillow and only sky for covering, with daylight gone and darkness over him. He confessed his sin with weeping and pleaded for evidence he was not cast off, hardly daring to pray and fearing God had forsaken him because of injustice, deception and falsehood. His need was freedom from guilt and restoration to communion, for his sin weighed him down and left him fearing he was forsaken of heaven.

In mercy God visited, encouraged and answered him when discouraged and in danger of separation, giving light, pardon and visitation of mercy and grace. God knew the evil influences and perils surrounding him among idolaters and scheming men, and opened the future and His divine purpose to prepare him for temptation and faithfulness, keeping ever before him the high standard he must aim at. That night Jacob experienced the new birth and became a child of God, and in his discouraged state the light was most precious. The hard stone became the most desirable pillow on which his head had ever rested, and he was refreshed by the dews of grace, grateful, sleepless with deep gratitude and holy joy, and invigorated by God's presence and assurance to make his solemn vow.

On awaking he knew the Lord was in that place though he had not known it, that unseen angels peopled it, and that it was the house of God and the gate of heaven, with heaven's connection revealed and God looking down with compassion and love. He went forward sensing the Unseen with him and angels as companions. From above the ladder God declared Himself the God of Abraham and Isaac, promised to Jacob and his posterity the land where he lay, renewed the promise that in him and his seed all families of the earth would be blessed, and spoke comfort for present loneliness and distress that He was with him, would keep him wherever he went, would bring him back to the land, and would not leave him until all spoken to him was done.

The humble resting-place was consecrated by a manifestation of divine glory into a tabernacle where God met and blessed His servant humbly seeking truth, peace and righteousness. God's presence is not confined to a splendid edifice but meets servants on a hillside, in caves of the earth, forest, humble barn and cotton tent, while the grandest cathedral enclosing pride, dead forms and hollow hypocrisy is repulsive to Him who seeks worship in spirit and in truth. The meeting on the hillside at Bethel shows God meets people in natural settings. A home where a mother works in close connection with Christ can likewise become a Bethel, with Christ helping her make loving ministry a blessing reaching beyond ordinary life.

The promises given with the vision became Jacob's later ground of intercession when alone in distress years later, pleaded together with the covenant made with his fathers as his claim for mercy, deliverance and assurance that sin was pardoned. In the crisis when everything was at stake, alone in darkness, he confessed his sin and gratefully acknowledged God's mercy and with deep humiliation pleaded those Bethel promises, with the covenant to his fathers and the later promises given in the land of his exile, as the ground for deliverance and pardon. The memory of angels reminding him of God's presence and promises of mercy also softened his heart and helped prepare his household to worship God. Joseph, taught the story in childhood as part of his knowledge of God, remembered the account of angels coming to instruct, comfort and protect Jacob and recalled God's promises and their fulfillment, and trusted in exile that the God who had cared for Jacob would be his God too.

Ladder's Appearance and Glory

The ladder was set up on the earth with its base resting firmly upon it, and it must reach fully to earth or it could do no good. Its top reached into heaven, even to the highest heaven, above the starry host, to the throne of God. It was a mystic ladder of shining brightness whose glory streamed from heaven to earth, with light shining its whole length and upon every round. The vision joins earth and heaven and reveals heaven's connection with earth.

The base of the mystic ladder rested at Jerusalem. Those who held this teaching also set it forth as resting at Zion.

The Lord Himself, enshrouded in light, stood above the top of the ladder. His glory shone upon every round and flooded the threshold of heaven. His presence above shows the Father looking with compassion on sinful people.

The angels of God in garments of heavenly brightness continually ascend and descend upon the ladder between earth and heaven. Brightness from the throne beams down the ladder and reflects inexpressible glory on the earth. Their ascending and descending reveals God's presence in the place, which is the house of God and the gate of heaven.

When Jacob awoke the ladder and the bright messengers were gone, leaving only earthly objects and the starlit heavens to be seen, with the glorious Majesty above seen only in imagination. He was left awed by the immediate presence of God, grateful that he was not destroyed, and invigorated by God's presence and assurance.

Christ the Connecting Ladder

The ladder is Jesus Christ, the world's Redeemer, the appointed medium and connecting link joining earth to heaven and finite humanity to the infinite God, through whom the communication broken off by transgression is resumed. It is the way communication between heaven and earth is restored after sin separated humanity from God, reuniting humanity with God so that heavenly help reaches people, sinners may find pardon, and mercy and grace may visit them. Through Him continual communication is maintained, with God above the ladder and angels ascending and descending as agents carrying out His will in ongoing contact with humanity. The ladder reaches from humanity's lowest degradation to heaven's heights, and those who see the light are to share the heavenly treasures received as missionaries.

Its foot resting on the earth represents Christ's humanity, humility and sympathy, for in humiliation He descended to the very depth of human woe and suffering in pity for fallen man. Its top reaching to heaven, to the highest heavens and resting on the throne of Jehovah, represents His divine nature, power and oneness with the Father grasping the Infinite. Though God, He took human form and was one with the Father, and with His long human arm He encircles the race while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Almighty. Brightness from the throne beams down the ladder and reflects a light of inexpressible glory on the earth.

After Adam's sin separated earth from heaven and ended free communion between God and man in the apostasy, when man alienated himself from God, Christ with His own merits and body bridged the gulf that sin made and made atonement for transgression. Through Him earth is again linked with heaven, ministering angels can hold communion with man, and weak and helpless fallen man is connected with the Source of infinite power. This separated atom of a world, made an island by sin, is reinstated, so that return to lost paradise, regained communion, and return to allegiance to God are possible. The ladder was given to one who longed for heaven and saw no way, that as sinless substitute and surety Christ makes renewed communion possible.

Through Christ alone communication is opened between God and man, and all intercourse since the Fall is through Him. Through Him heaven is opened, the separation is overcome, people can draw near to God, gain access to the Father, and receive pardon. Heavenly messengers pass from heaven to earth with messages of love to fallen man and minister only through Him to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Angels continually go to and fro in that service, for through Him communication between heaven and the fallen race is possible.

Salvation comes only by holding fast to Christ and climbing as it were round by round by His merits, sacrifice and righteousness. In Him believers receive wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. He takes human sins and gives His own righteousness as a garment of spotless purity, having died because of transgression of the law to show that the law of God cannot be changed. The ladder had to reach fully to both earth and heaven, and if it had fallen short by even an inch all would have been lost, but it did not fail because Christ bridged the gulf, providing escape from sin for those who keep God's commandments.

God's glory above the ladder and shining along its whole length shows the Father looking with favor and compassion on sinful humanity through Christ. Through Christ's merit God looks graciously on humanity and on climbers, giving light, strength, encouragement, divine nature and moral power to believers' hearts. The angels ascending and descending bring communications from God to people and carry petitions and praise from people to God, bearing messages of warning, reproof, instruction, encouragement and love. Those who shut themselves away from that light cannot expect God to devise another way to reach them, and refusing it puts their souls in peril.

The vision opened to Jacob in its essential parts the plan of redemption and the way of life, revealing what met his need for freedom from guilt, a Saviour who restores sinners to communion with God. It showed that heaven's light reaches the inhabitants of earth and that every blessing comes through Him. Jacob grasped part of the revelation at once, and its great and mysterious truths were the study of his lifetime, unfolding more and more to his understanding. Its significance remains for people today, for it revealed the way by which even sinful Jacob could be restored to favor.

Angels' Ministering Work

The ascending and descending is unceasing traffic between heaven and earth, carrying the prayers of the needy and distressed upward to God and bringing blessing, hope, courage, help, health and life downward to people. Their presence surrounds the soul with heavenly influence and creates a heavenly atmosphere that lifts the mind toward unseen eternal realities. Those realities are discerned by spiritual vision and spiritual hearing rather than by natural sight, and are to be beheld by faith while at work in a world darkened by sin. Through faith the heavens remain open, and living prayers go up by this way so that believers are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, while neglecting prayer in the home turns that heavenly help away.

The movement in both directions is two-way communication: petitions, messages and praise go up from people to God, and communications, orders and counsels come down from God to people. The angels report the work done and the condition and needs of people, receive further orders at the throne, and descend to carry those orders out on earth. Earthly affairs are thus known in heaven and heaven's counsels are executed on earth. They are commissioned to help God's people and carry to heaven the record of human actions, where every deed good or evil lies open to perfect justice and is judged.

They are ministering spirits sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, working with Christ and with human agents to seek and save the lost. They do not come to condemn, destroy, rule or demand homage, but serve without selfishness in building the kingdom. They bring messages of mercy and warning and messages of mercy and love and joy, work upon human minds and hearts, and move upon hearts to bring strength to do right. Thousands upon thousands wait as willing missionaries from heaven to cooperate with human agents, guide every mind seeking guidance, and labor alongside followers of Christ to rescue people and bring them to loyalty to God.

They communicate with, watch over, guard, defend and minister to those who love and serve God, so that people are not left alone against the invisible foe and his snares. They surround souls with heavenly influence and bear them up lest they fail, watching each step taken by every soul that wills to climb toward heaven. The good angels press back the evil angels that are also here trying to destroy, and draw near to defend God's people as they contend for the faith. This watchful care was the token of divine care that gave Jacob light and encouragement when discouraged and in danger of separation, bringing him hope, courage and protection on his flight and on his return.

The ladder Jacob saw is still set up, and the angels are descending it now to bring help to those laboring to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth and to establish the work. They carry prayers upward and bring back the help needed, including means to go forward when lack of faith leaves means wanting. They cooperate with human workers, and as the end draws near this heavenly union causes the work to increase in strength and purity and holiness. The members of the church triumphant, the church in heaven, are permitted to draw near to the members of the church militant to aid them in their necessity, so that as laborers together with God they carry forward His work with completeness with singing and rejoicing, kindling holy zeal until company after company leaves the dark standard of the foe.

The vision means heaven is brought near to earth and constantly connected with it, nearer than many suppose. Its base is firmly planted on the earth and must reach fully to the earth or it could do no good, while its topmost round reaches to the highest heaven with God Himself above it. The light of His glory floods the threshold of heaven and shines its whole length and upon every round and every rung in shining brightness. That nearness assured Jacob when alone and discouraged that he was not forsaken, recalled the teachings of Abraham and Isaac, and brought comfort, hope and peace where he had not known the Lord was present. Heaven is thus present over councils and committee meetings, seeing and recording every decision, and forgetting that supreme oversight leads to diverting the work, self-sufficiency and lording over workers, while realizing it brings heaven into homes in preparation for the heaven above.

Links to Other Scripture

The promise to Nathanael that he would see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man identifies the Son of man as the ladder joining earth and heaven and opening communication between God and humanity. The ladder was shown in its essential parts as the plan of redemption, for after Adam's sin separated earth from heaven and ended free communion, Jesus with His own merits bridged the gulf sin had made so that ministering angels could hold communion with fallen humanity and weak and helpless people could be connected with the source of infinite power. By taking humanity while retaining divinity, with His humanity embracing fallen people and His divinity reaching the throne of God, He became the medium through whom heaven is opened and prayers ascend to the Father while blessing, hope, courage, help, health and life descend, including His blessings and miracles for the suffering carried out through holy angels. The opened heavens at His baptism at the Jordan, when the Spirit descended upon Him, were the sign that He is the Son of God, and through faith in Him heaven remains open. Part of this revelation was grasped at once, yet its great and mysterious truths unfold more and more as a lifetime study, promising a still greater revelation of this connection.

The mystic ladder whose base rested at Jerusalem and at Zion connected earth with heaven with God's angels ascending and descending upon it. In doing so it opened to the world the way into the holiest of all. It signifies the access between earth and God made available through the sanctuary and its services.

The ladder is also a picture of the believer's upward progress toward God in true sanctification, with the Lord above it drawing the climber toward higher aims. Its base on earth and its top reaching heaven and the throne of the Infinite represent Christ joining the human to the divine, and climbing it means showing faith through obedient works and adding grace to grace in successive steps of growth in knowledge, holiness and Christlike character until will and character become like Christ's. The steps are the Christian graces named by Peter, climbed gradually through present effort with divine aid while keeping the eyes on Jesus. Neglecting those graces leaves a person spiritually blind and focused on earthly things rather than the light of God above the ladder. Those who diligently grow in grace will not fall and will have abundant entrance into Christ's everlasting kingdom.

God's glory by this way reaches down to the human path even in deepest loss, and the way to the throne begins at the cross that raises the climber. Drawing nearer to God by beholding Christ and becoming like Him belongs with this ladder image, as sung in Nearer, my God, to Thee. The ladder reaching from earth to heaven is a picture of the soul's ascent to heaven. The Bible aids the soul in climbing this ladder of progress.

Climbing the Ladder Daily

The ladder is the way to eternal life and to the everlasting kingdom, to be ascended round after round heavenward by all who love God. God is above it to be looked to for strength, and His glory shines on every step. Climbing is coming to Jesus, setting foot on the ladder, linking the soul to Christ the Mediator, clinging to Him and rising through Him by living faith step by step.

The rounds are Christ's merits grasped one after another until the highest round is reached and entry is made into the kingdom. Climbing begins at the very first round and rises gradually in fellowship with Christ's sufferings into His likeness, and feet are placed upon it when the converted person forsakes a frivolous life for a transformed character. No one grasps the highest without starting at the first, but reaches the lower rounds first, and helpers must begin where people are to show the first steps rather than calling from above without showing where to put the feet.

Ascent requires leaving earthly treasures, hindrances, customs, practices and fashions behind, since earthly possessions do not bring salvation or make a person good in God's sight. It means forsaking sin, ignorance, worldly follies and enchantments, making no provision for the flesh, and advancing resolutely through difficult steps of faith, self-denial, obedience to God's commandments and doing Jesus' will to grow into His likeness. To climb is to cling to Jesus Christ and be made one with Him, and to get everyone else to come and climb.

No holy thought or unselfish act originates in human strength, and effort to become good before receiving a new heart is futile, but human effort joined with Christ's power is necessary. Climbing therefore calls for constant spiritual vigilance, watchfulness, unceasing prayer, stern persevering effort and continual advancement, with faith joined to work and successive growth in grace. Letting go of Christ leads to ruin, falling and perishing, while none who perseveringly climbs will fail to reach heaven and receive everlasting life.

God looks graciously on climbers, watches each step, shines His glory on every step, and sends divine help when they falter. He gives strength, courage, light and hope, and comforts and protects with all heavenly intelligences, helping weak, doubting, struggling souls who call upon Him in conflict. Heaven is made sure through Christ's righteousness alone, and those who persevere in faith, keep the eye fixed on the glory above and look up not down will enter the heavenly city, see the King in beauty and receive rest, peace and a lasting crown.

Climbing is lived out by using abilities and intelligence in God's service, applying Christianity daily, doing duty, and growing in religious experience until stepping off the top into glory. It is taking hold with God and cooperating with Him in every reformation, keeping body and mind fit to help sufferers and see the sick healed, and building on doing to others as one would be done by. Those who receive heavenly treasures must share them as missionaries and co-workers in the highest sense, receivers with the duty to impart and diffuse what has been received, through whom Christ communicates light.

The image applies to particular callings: weak, doubting new believers in conflict see heaven open as they call for help, and students climb diligently beginning at the lower rounds and advancing step by step. Husband and wife ascend together in gospel harmony to become channels of light, while selfishness eclipses it. Children of God keep prayer in the home by which living prayers ascend and light, grace and strength descend, and workers are trained in sacred places where angels walk up and down.

True success comes by turning from waywardness and defiling habits, reconsecrating the heart, refusing lukewarm experience, taking Christ's virtue into life, obeying impressed truth, and living wholly and holily. It is purifying self as He is pure, putting away impurity and dishonesty through repentance, teaching children the way, refusing darkness and evil speaking, contemplating His love and keeping heaven in view while in this world. The ascent is made not through one's own strength but through Christ's strength, with humility and the putting away of old habits, the eye fixed on God above and on the angels moving upon the ladder.

Through Christ believers partake of the divine nature, escape corruption, overcome the enemy and evil by divine aid rather than own strength, and attain God's character by faith. They behold God's character in Christ as advocate and life, follow His example toward the portals of glory, grow in the graces of the Spirit, and center lives and the church on Him as source of power and success until stepping into the kingdom. This requires active work at the post of duty, not folding the hands and waiting in idle expectancy.

The ladder reaches from humanity's lowest degradation to heaven's heights and from earth to God's throne, so that even sinners drawn by Christ's words and Spirit may climb. Those holding fast to God may set the feet of others upon it, and all who will to climb are helped and guarded by ministering angels until they enter their Lord's joy. Satan tries to hide this connection from view, but God's people are to keep pressing upward toward the throne.