Genesis 28:13, commentary and pictures

God spoke to Jacob in a night dream at Bethel, naming Himself the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and renewing to Jacob their covenant, with the promise that the land on which he lay would be given to him and to his descendants. He was then a lonely, guilty fugitive fleeing his brother after deceiving his father to take the blessing, weary and homeless in the wilderness, fearing his sin had cut him off from God. Above him stood a ladder whose foot rested on earth and whose top reached to heaven and the throne of God, with angels ascending and descending upon it in brightness. That ladder is Christ, the Mediator who bridges the gulf made by sin, joining earth to heaven by His humiliation in human suffering below and His grasp of the Infinite above, so that communion is restored and heaven's help continually descends to people. With the promise came assurance of personal presence and keeping wherever Jacob went and of bringing him back, and the call to climb step by step by forsaking sin and holding fast to Christ until entering His kingdom, returning gratitude in worship and in time, talents and property.

Jacob's Night at Bethel

The words were spoken to Jacob at Bethel as he journeyed as a lonely fugitive after his deception of Isaac in taking the blessing, fleeing for his life from his brother's wrath for the wrong he had done. He was guilty, weary, hungry and homeless, a helpless, discouraged wanderer in dreary waste places who felt forsaken, outcast and in despair over his own wrong course, troubled and oppressed with fear that his injustice and falsehood had cut him off and that God had forsaken him and cast him off. In that state he lay alone confessing sin and pleading for evidence that he was not utterly cast off, and in mercy God pitied him and spoke to him mercy, protection and future blessing despite his wrongdoing.

He lay alone in a desolate wilderness at night under the open sky with stones for a pillow and a rock for his pillow, a lonely traveler wandering in a dreary wilderness. He was discouraged, helpless, hopeless and distressed, oppressed with the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, yet even when daylight is gone and darkness is over him with only a stone for rest, God draws near to the lonely wanderer in dreams. His presence reaches even a lonely, barren place and comforted Jacob there, making the nearness of heaven personally real, though Jacob's difficulties remained. The waking answer to such a meeting is thoughts bright with praise and turning the place of grief into Bethel, for even a cross that lifts him and woes and stony griefs become means to be nearer to God.

In a vision of the night God gave him a dream of a ladder whose base rested firmly on earth and whose top reached to the highest heavens, to the very heavens and to the very throne of God. God Himself stood above it and at the top in divine glory and light, with His glory shining through the open heaven and streaming from heaven to earth along it, with brightness from His throne beaming down the ladder and reflecting glory upon the earth, glorifying it with shining brightness along its whole length and upon every round. Bright angels clothed in heavenly brightness ascended and descended upon it as bright angel messengers, showing the pathway and living connection of communication between earth and heaven. The dream thus opened to him the plan of salvation and constant communication kept up between this world and heavenly places by a direct channel through heavenly angels in continual intercourse with humanity.

That night Jacob, the discouraged petted son of his mother, in his discouraged state experienced the new birth and became a child of God. The light that came to him as a lonely and discouraged traveler was most precious, a precious light and glorious vision of heaven showing that love seeks the discouraged wanderer. So the hard stone on which his head rested became the most precious and desirable pillow on which his head had ever rested.

God appearing in the dream confirmed the covenant promise and revealed His presence in a place Jacob had not recognized as sacred. He manifested Himself in divine glory at Jacob's humble resting-place on the earth, consecrating that lowly spot as sacred. His presence is not confined to a splendid edifice, but hillside, cave, forest, humble barn and cotton tent each become a tabernacle where He meets and blesses servants humbly seeking truth, peace and righteousness, while even the grandest cathedral is repulsive to Him if it encloses pride, dead forms and hollow hypocrisy, because He seeks worship in spirit and in truth.

Covenant Words Renewed

From above the ladder God named Himself the LORD God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, renewing to Jacob the covenant promise first given to Abraham and Isaac. That renewal affirmed that God's purpose would be carried forward through Jacob, even as an exile and fugitive, and through Christ as the link between heaven and earth by whom communion is renewed and the Father beholds sinful people. The account shows the promises were fulfilled, and that in need God sent angels to instruct, comfort and protect him.

He promised that the very land whereon Jacob lay would be given to Jacob and to his seed and descendants as an inheritance. That covenant was preserved with the Jewish nation for two thousand years while that nation was tested and proved. The vision also revealed God's presence in a place Jacob had not recognized as sacred.

With the land He joined assurance of personal presence and keeping wherever Jacob went, and of bringing him back to the land. It came as mercy, protection and future blessing despite Jacob's wrongdoing, to comfort and encourage him in loneliness and distress and to prompt faithfulness amid future dangers and temptations, even though his difficulties remained. Remembering that appearance at Bethel and its promises of mercy concerning the land and his descendants afterward softened his heart and helped prepare his household to worship God.

The dream opened the plan of salvation to Jacob, with Christ showing him the way of life. That plan was not yet unfolded as clearly as it is now. God's appearance above the ladder showed that heaven's light and help could reach people on earth, with His glory shining through the open heaven and every blessing coming through Christ the ladder joining earth and heaven.

Christ the Ladder

The ladder is Christ, the connecting link and the world's Redeemer and Mediator who joins earth to heaven and to God's very throne. Sin had made a gulf and broken communion between heaven and earth, and through Him that communion is restored and earth and heaven are united, so that the Father beholds sinful people with compassion. He is the way set between earth and heaven for hopeless, guilty humanity, by whom heaven is opened and people may draw near to God.

Its foot resting upon the earth shows His humiliation in descending to the very depth of human woe in sympathy and pity to share fallen humanity's suffering. Its top reaching to heaven and to the throne of Jehovah in the highest heavens, even to the throne of infinity, shows His divine power grasping the Infinite. Thus joined to earth in His human nature and reaching heaven in His divine nature, He links finite man to the infinite God.

Through Christ alone communication is opened and kept up between God and humanity as a constant, direct channel. By it heaven's counsels are carried out on earth and human actions are known and judged in heaven, while praise from God's children ascends to Him. Angels continually ascend and descend upon it in shining brightness with messages of love and light and blessings, to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, and only through Him do they minister to men.

The base of the ladder is firmly planted on the earth and must stand firmly there, lacking not even a foot or an inch or it could do no good. The topmost round reaches to the highest heaven, to the throne of infinity, with the brightness from God's throne beaming down and the light of His glory flooding the threshold of heaven and shining upon every round along its whole length.

Heaven Present With Earth

The vision assures that no one is alone, for heaven is opened and God is near even in a lonely, barren, desolate place. What Jacob saw made the nearness of heaven and the presence of God personally real in his despair. That standing of God above the ladder, with angels moving between earth and heaven, reveals His love and care for His children and a continual communication between earth and heaven. Angels watch over people and help them, ascending and descending to minister to human need. God watches over the climbing path and sends help when climbers falter, so that those who keep climbing will enter the heavenly city.

God above the ladder is the source of all power who speaks, over all and yet above and present with those who depend on Him. Seeing Him there keeps a person humble and faithful amid progress, honor, and influence. His standing there means He is present watching over earthly work, including every council and committee meeting. That oversight extends to the work of institutions and to people's actions and the purposes of their hearts, calling leaders to self-denial, sacrifice, and harmony rather than self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, and lording over others.

His glory and brightness shine upon the ladder along its whole length and upon every round. That light guides climbers heavenward as they ascend toward fellowship with an abiding Christ. The coming and going of angels between earth and heaven creates a heavenly atmosphere that lifts people toward eternal things. Those heavenly things are discerned by spiritual vision and not by natural sight. Through this constant, direct channel God carries out His will on earth by the ministry of angels in continual intercourse with humanity.

Remembered and Fulfilled

The promise made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob was called to mind by Jacob when Joseph told his dreams, which Jacob took as the Lord revealing the future to Joseph. Because his older sons had grieved and disappointed him, his hopes centered in Joseph as the eldest son of his beloved Rachel, and he hoped God would wonderfully bless Joseph in fulfillment of that promise.

In a later crisis when everything was at stake, Jacob with deep humiliation confessed his sin, gratefully acknowledged God's mercy toward him, and pleaded in prayer the covenant made with his fathers and the promises given to himself at Bethel, including the promise that the land would belong to him and his descendants. Remembering that vision with its token of divine care lightened his burdened heart on his return from Mount Gilead, showing that the same messengers who had brought him hope and courage when he fled from Canaan would be the guardians of his return. Remembering that appearance at Bethel and its promises of mercy concerning the land and his descendants softened Jacob's heart and helped prepare his household to worship God.

The covenant giving the land where he lay to him and to his seed was preserved with the Jewish nation for two thousand years while that nation was tested and proved. That covenant, together with the covenant with Abraham remembered at Shechem, a place full of sacred associations, was fulfilled in what God wrought for Israel in giving them a land for which they did not labor, and cities which they did not build, and vineyards and oliveyards which they did not plant. The account shows that God's promises were fulfilled and that in need God sent angels to instruct, comfort, and protect Jacob, an example that gave Joseph confidence that the God of his fathers would be with him in exile. That night vision at Bethel, where a ladder joined heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending and God revealing Himself from above, was taught to Joseph as a child.

Call to Climb and Serve

To climb is to advance step by step up the ladder by forsaking sin and leaving earthly customs and practices behind, holding fast to Christ and relying on His merits and sacrifice for pardon, moral power to honor the Creator, and everlasting life. The rounds to be grasped are His merits, and climbing brings fellowship with His sufferings and conformity to His divine likeness. Angels ascending and descending below God will not let the climber fall while the eye is kept fixed upon the glory of God at the top, yet the highest round cannot be grasped without starting at the first, and letting go of Christ means falling away. The base must stand firmly planted upon the earth, lacking not even a foot or an inch or it could do no good, while the topmost round reaches to the highest heaven with the light of God's glory flooding its threshold and shining on every round. Every sinful person may by faith lay hold of Christ as Redeemer to be saved, though angels can do nothing for the person of intelligence who refuses to be led by the Spirit of God.

The ladder pictures continuing progress toward God through faith, obedience and self-denial, with each step drawing the person toward Christlike character and higher aims. Ascending means growing in fellowship with an abiding Christ and in harmony with the great truths of the gospel, with husband and wife helping each other rise together toward heaven. All who by painstaking effort ascend the ladder of human progress must fix their eyes on the One above the ladder, keeping His glory before the mind's eye and not cheap earthly representations that imprint false conceptions of Christ and heavenly things.

Those who keep climbing will enter the heavenly city, for God watches over the path and sends help when climbers falter. Those who persevere in coming to Him will enter His everlasting kingdom, in whom lives center as the hope and source of power and secret of success in service. He is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption to the believer, and from foundation to topstone the church is built up on Christ and in Christ, who strengthens climbers to press upward round by round till they step off the highest round into the everlasting kingdom of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Everyone who has seen the evidence and light of truth and accepts it professing faith in Jesus Christ receives heavenly treasures and must impart and diffuse what has been received as a missionary in the highest sense, because constant communication is kept up between this world and heavenly places through a direct channel by which God accomplishes His will through angels in continual intercourse with humanity. That connection between earth and heaven is through Christ, and it calls for partaking of the divine nature by standing at the post of duty instead of folding the hands in idle expectancy. Through Him as the living connection people have access to the Father and an escape from sin, if they keep God's commandments.

The divine favor and promise laid a claim demanding a corresponding return, remaining with Jacob as he went forward with the presence of the Unseen and angels as companions. It first wrought awe, deep gratitude at not being destroyed, holy joy, and refreshment by the dews of grace that moved him to rise early, set up his memorial pillar, and make his solemn vow. Every blessing calls for response, not only gratitude but tangible returns of time, talents and property devoted to Him, and special deliverance and unexpected favors must not be received with indifference but answered by a pledge, with careful living before God.

Jacob's experience gives the home its image as a place where God is present. A mother closely connected with Christ can make her home a Bethel, bringing God into her children's thoughts and turning ordinary home life into a setting for spiritual blessing.