Stairway To Heaven

“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on earth, with its top reaching to heaven.” Genesis 28:12

Although we’re not Jewish, a few in my family must be kin to Jacob.  Blessed with the ability to sleep anywhere at any time, they can rest in the rowdiest or roughest of circumstances.  I’m not saying I’m jealous, but the certainty of a good night’s sleep, no matter the conditions, would be rather reassuring.

Noise pollution wasn’t Jacob’s problem in the middle of the wilderness, but his accommodations that evening weren’t exactly cozy.  On the run from his brother’s rage, he stopped at sundown to sleep.  He had forgotten to pack a pillow, so “taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down”(Gen 28:11).  This should be no surprise when we realize how hard-headed Jacob was, but it couldn’t have been comfortable!   However, no insomnia inflicted Jacob, and he soon dozed off and started dreaming.

He saw a stairway connecting heaven and earth with angels going up and down, and “there beside him stood the Lord”(Gen 28:13).  Jacob might have been in the desert doing his own thing, but God had an Almighty agenda for this deceiver.  In grace, God promised to give him the land on which he was lying, to go with him as he wandered, and to bring him home again.

Jacob awoke with a sacred scare.  “How awesome is this place!” he exclaimed.  “This is none other than the house of God”(Gen 28:17).  His stone pillow became a pillar—a place of connection and covenant with God, and Jacob vowed to worship.

Jacob’s ladder wasn’t so he could climb up.

Jacob’s ladder was how God came down—to comfort, to promise, and to bless.

What a good night’s sleep!