# 260 Jacob's Ladder

The Book of Genesis

Day 260

Ge 28:10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.  11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.  12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.  14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.  15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."

Quite a pilgrimage for Jacob. Just think of all he has been experiencing lately! His brother has sworn to kill him. His parents are pressuring him to find a bride, and now he is on his way to a strange place with nothing but a rock for his pillow.

It is here that he has the famous dream that we have heard about since our earliest days of Sunday School.  It is called “Jacob’s Ladder.” Angels ascending and descending on this ladder that has been set up bridging the gap between heaven and earth. God uses this dream to express His desire to be connected to Jacob, and of course, you and I as well. Jesus uses this story  to point out that He is the way  for man to connect with God. He is the ladder!

In Joh 1:51, He says to Nathaniel, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Did you notice how He substitutes the “ladder” with “the Son of Man?”

Just a little on the title of “The Son of Man.” The Son of God was the divine name of Jesus, Son of David was His Jewish name, and the Son of Man was the name He used to link Himself to the earth (mankind) and His mission . His mission was to bridge the gap between sinful man and a holy God. This vision of Jacob’s was a sign of things to come! Things that connected him to the blessing of Abraham, and God used this vision to assure Jacob that he and his seed would indeed  be the vehicle of that blessing.

The presence of the multitude of angels assured Jacob that no night of loneliness, no time of desolation, would be so dark that God’s angels would not be able to find him. No pit of trouble so deep that God could not reach him. All he had to do was look to the Son of Man….Jesus…..the Ladder.

As God the Father soothed and assured Jacob with this vision of the Ladder, so  too are we assured. For Jesus has said that He will never leave us and the very angels of God are always at hand ministering to our needs. Speaking of angels in Heb 1:14 the Holy Spirit assures us, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”

What comfort to know that even as Jesus bridges the gap for us between heaven and earth, His angels are with us along the way.