The Ladder of Jacob: Jesus in the Book of Genesis

On the night that Jacob fled from home after deceiving his father to get the blessing meant for his older brother Esau, he came to a place called Bethel (which means “House of God”). He took a stone for a pillow and had a dream (Genesis 28:11-22). In the dream, he saw a moving ladder—in Hebrew, the ladder went up and down—with angels of God ascending and descending on it. When Jacob woke up, he promised to give a tenth of all he received back to God.

The law of tithing was not established until the time of Moses. Jacob’s offering of a tenth was a bargain he was trying to make with God: “If you bring me back home safely, then I will give you a tenth.” In reality, humans cannot make covenants with God; a covenant is something God initiates with humans. Jacob would learn this lesson the hard way.

Centuries later, Jesus met a man named Nathanael and said to him, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, you are a Jew, and there is no deceit in your heart; you are a true Israelite.” Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?” He did not deny what Jesus said. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that. I tell you the truth, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:50-51).

Jesus is Jacob’s ladder, the ladder that connects heaven and earth. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

(Compiled and edited based on the Chinese Union Version and recordings from David Pawson’s “Unlocking the Old Testament” series.)