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Patriarchs and Prophets
above it was the Lord of glory, and from the heavens His voice was
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heard: “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of
Isaac.” The land whereon he lay as an exile and fugitive was promised
to him and to his posterity, with the assurance, “In thee and in thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” This promise had
been given to Abraham and to Isaac, and now it was renewed to Jacob.
Then in special regard to his present loneliness and distress, the words
of comfort and encouragement were spoken: “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.”
The Lord knew the evil influences that would surround Jacob, and
the perils to which he would be exposed. In mercy He opened up
the future before the repentant fugitive, that he might understand the
divine purpose with reference to himself, and be prepared to resist the
temptations that would surely come to him when alone amid idolaters
and scheming men. There would be ever before him the high standard
at which he must aim; and the knowledge that through him the purpose
of God was reaching its accomplishment, would constantly prompt
him to faithfulness.
In the vision the plan of redemption was presented to Jacob, not
fully, but in such parts as were essential to him at that time. The mystic
ladder revealed to him in his dream was the same to which Christ
referred in His conversation with Nathanael. Said He, “Ye shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon
the Son of man.”
John 1:51
. Up to the time of man’s rebellion against
the government of God, there had been free communion between God
and man. But the sin of Adam and Eve separated earth from heaven,
so that man could not have communion with his Maker. Yet the world
was not left in solitary hopelessness. The ladder represents Jesus,
the appointed medium of communication. Had He not with His own
merits bridged the gulf that sin had made, the ministering angels could
have held no communion with fallen man. Christ connects man in his
weakness and helplessness with the source of infinite power.
All this was revealed to Jacob in his dream. Although his mind at
once grasped a part of the revelation, its great and mysterious truths
were the study of his lifetime, and unfolded to his understanding more
and more.
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