Walking With Christ

Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!(ESV)

Jacob’s ladder is a story that is often overlooked. The full story is covered in Genesis 28:10-22. The dream itself is fairly simple. There was a ladder stretching from heaven to earth and angels moved up and down the ladder constantly. Then he received a blessing from God. That’s it. That’s the whole dream, a fairly simple visual and a promise. If you’ve read this story hundreds of times and this is all you got from it then it’s fair to say that you’ve missed a great deal.

Jacob is sleeping on the very land that God promised to his family. When he went to sleep, he was not looking for or seeking God in any way. In fact, he was on the run from his brother, Esau, after deceiving their father and stealing his blessing. The dream did not occur when Jacob was spiritually strong or seeking God, but when he was vulnerable and unaware of God’s plan for him. This further illustrates that the ladder represents grace—God’s initiative to reach humanity even when we don’t deserve it or seek it. This ladder represents access to God and is a confirmation of the unfolding covenantal promises between God and Abraham. The ladder does not just represent individual blessings for Jacob, but also points to the larger redemptive plan that God is revealing, because as it says in verse 14 “in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed”.

John 1:51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”(ESV)

Jesus was speaking to Nathanael and made reference to the dream Jacob had. He is literally saying that He, Jesus, is the ladder in the dream. Jesus is the link between heaven and earth, God and man. It is only by His command that the angels travel between heaven and earth (Hebrews 1:14, Psalm 91:11). The angels constantly moving up and down the ladder tell us that there is a continuous connection between heaven and earth which means that God is not distant or unreachable. The ladder is God reaching down to humanity to bridge that impossible gap. Salvation is initiated by God’s grace, not human effort (Ephesians 2:8-9). The angels ascending and descending on Jesus symbolizes that Christ is through whom divine blessings flow and the ladder is a permanent connection between heaven and earth.

The more we study the word of God, the richer each story becomes and the more layers we see.