This ladder is the center, the focus, of Jacob’s dream. This dream is a revelation of Christ, for Christ is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw (John 1:51 and notes). Christ as the Son of Man, in His humanity, is the ladder that brings heaven (God) to earth (man) and joins earth and heaven as one (cf. John 14:6). Our regenerated spirit, which is God’s dwelling place today (Eph. 2:22), is the base on earth where Christ as the heavenly ladder has been set up (2 Tim. 4:22). Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we experience Christ as the ladder bringing God to us and us to God (see note Heb. 10:19^1b). Where this ladder is, there are an open heaven, the transformed man, the anointing upon this man, and the building up of the house of God with this man. The issue of Christ as the heavenly ladder is Bethel, the church, the Body of Christ, and the consummation of this ladder is the New Jerusalem.

Jacob’s dream is a most crucial point in this book, and vv. 10-22 unveil the most crucial matter in the revelation of God. God desires to have a house on earth, and His intention is to transform His called ones into stones, material for His building. In the account of Jacob’s dream, the stone (vv. 11, 18, 22), the pillar (v. 18), the house of God (vv. 17, 19, 22), and the oil (v. 18) are outstanding items. The stone symbolizes Christ as the foundation stone, the top stone, and the cornerstone for God’s building (Isa. 28:16; Zech. 4:7; Acts 4:10-12). It also symbolizes the transformed man, who has been constituted with Christ as the transforming element to be the material for the building of God’s house (Gen. 2:12; Matt. 16:18; John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 21:11, 18-20), which is the church today (1 Tim. 3:15) and which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and His redeemed elect (Rev. 21:3, 22). In v. 11 a stone was used by Jacob for a pillow, signifying that the very divine element of Christ constituted into our being through our subjective experience of Him becomes a pillow for our rest (cf. Matt. 11:28). After awaking from his dream, Jacob set up the pillow-stone as a pillar, signifying that the Christ who has been wrought into us and on whom we rest becomes the material and the support for God’s building, God’s house (cf. 1 Kings 7:21; Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12). Eventually, Jacob poured oil, a symbol of the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God reaching man (Exo. 30:23-30; Luke 4:18), on the pillar, symbolizing that the transformed man is one with the Triune God and expresses Him. That stone became Bethel, the house of God (vv. 19, 22). God’s house is the mutual dwelling place of God and His redeemed (John 14:2, 23)— man as God’s dwelling place (Isa. 66:1-2; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:22; Heb. 3:6; Rev. 21:3) and God as man’s dwelling place (Psa. 90:1; John 15:5; Rev. 21:22). Hence, the house of God is constituted of God and man mingled together as one. In God’s house God expresses Himself in humanity, and both God and man find mutual and eternal satisfaction and rest.

Or, placed it as his pillow. So also in v. 18.

Heb. El Shaddai. See note Gen. 17:1^2a.

Meaning house of God. See note Gen. 35:1^1a, par. 2.

This was a place on earth, but it was joined to heaven; hence, Jacob called it the gate of heaven. While we are in the church, the house of God, on earth, we can enter the gate of heaven, and through Christ as the heavenly ladder we can see and experience the things of heaven. See Heb. 4:16 and note Heb. 4:16¹.

See note Gen. 28:13².

God promised Jacob that He would give him the seed, the land, and the blessing (vv. 13-14), as He had promised Abraham (Gen. 12:3, 7; 13:14-16; 15:18; 22:17-18) and Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4). The land is for the kingdom of God, and the seed is for the expression of God and for the spreading of God’s image. Both the land and the seed are Christ (see note Gen. 15:3^1a), who also becomes the blessing (v. 14) with which we bless others (Rom. 15:29).

God’s referring to Himself as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac implies that He would also become the God of Jacob. The God of Abraham is the God of justification, the God of Isaac is the God of grace, and the God of Jacob is the God of transformation through divine discipline. Eventually, the God of Jacob became the God of Israel (Gen. 33:20; Exo. 5:1), the God of the transformed Jacob.

The angels are ministering spirits sent forth to serve the heirs of God’s salvation (Heb. 1:14 and note Heb. 1:14¹, par. 3).