The life of Jacob is a very interesting study. Jacob lived to be 147 years old. They were, for the most part, turbulent and tumultuous years. When introduced to Pharaoh, Jacob described the years of his life as “few and evil” (Gen 47:9).1 He came into this world grasping his brother’s heel (25:26) and was rightly named Jacob, a supplanter (27:36).
Jacob was anxious to get his father’s blessing but sought it through his own self-effort and fleshly means. He deceived his father with the skins of animals (27:11-23) and was later deceived by his own children with the blood of an animal (37:31-35).
In Genesis 28:11-15, we read the account of Jacob’s vision of a ladder reaching up to heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending on it. The Lord Jesus told Nathanael that there would be a future time when he would see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (Joh 1:51). Matthew records how that angels ministered to the Lord Jesus (Mat 4:11).
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus could have called for more than 12 legions of angels to deliver Him from the hands of those who sought to take His life (Mat 26:53), but He willingly allowed men to take Him, and He gave Himself for you and for me.
Many suggestions have been put forward as to the meaning of Jacob’s vision. While we may not fully understand all that it means, we can learn certain things that will give us an appreciation of God’s divine purposes and of His care for His own. It tells us that heaven is interested in the affairs of earth and that the counsels of heaven are fulfilled on earth, while the affairs of earth are known to heaven.
It is a reminder, too, that nothing escapes the gaze of an all-seeing God. It also tells us that His eyes are ever upon His own. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews tells us angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb 1:14). The psalmist wrote, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psa 34:7).
As Jacob considered the ladder, “behold, the LORD stood above it” (Gen 28:13), the inspired writer tells us. This is another reminder of God’s unfailing faithfulness in watching over and providing for His own. The psalmist wrote, “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry” (Psa 34:15). The Lord stood above it; the Lord is the divine supplier of every need; we, like Jacob, are the recipients of His divine provision. The Lord is the object of worship; we, like Jacob, are the objects of His grace.
Like Jacob, we too, as the children of God, can claim His promise, “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of” (Gen 28:15).
Jacob recognized that God was in that place and he called it Bethel, meaning “house of God.” He recognized the need for fear and reverence, and he took of the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon it. Paul wrote to Timothy, “That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1Ti 3:15).
It is interesting to note that just before Jacob’s vision, or dream, he took of the stones (plural) of that place and put them for his pillows (Gen 28:11). However, in verse 18, we read that Jacob took the stone (singular) that he used for his pillow and set it up for a pillar. Perhaps what is seen in picture is the Church in its broad, or universal, aspect, as seen in the word “stone.” When the Lord Jesus asked His disciples who they said He was, Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Based on Peter’s divinely given revelation, and referring to Himself, the Lord Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Mat 16:15-18).
The use of the word “stones” in verse 11 may picture you and me, as individual believers in that great spiritual edifice that the Lord is building. Peter wrote of this tremendous truth, “Ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1Pe 2:5).
How wonderful to know that all who are redeemed by precious blood are part of the Church, His bride. Paul reminds us in the book of Ephesians that Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it (Eph 5:25). He charged the elders of Ephesus with the responsibility to feed the church of God, which He had purchased with His own blood (Act 20:28). What a place of privilege, honour and distinction it is to offer up praises to God, to worship the living God.
The mention of the pouring of oil on the pillar (Gen 28:18) would remind us of the words of Peter concerning the Lord Jesus, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Act 10:38).
The Lord Jesus quoted from the prophecy of Isaiah (61:1-3) concerning Himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luk 4:18).
Jacob’s pouring the oil on the pillar also speaks of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Act 2), of the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Church (1Co 3:16; 12:4-13), and in the lives of believers today (Rom 8:2-14).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
