Jacob's Ladder at Bethel
Jacob is running. He has cheated his brother Esau out of the birthright and the blessing, and is on the road to Haran with nothing. He stops at nightfall in open country, takes a stone for a pillow, and dreams of a stairway set on the earth with its top reaching heaven, angels going up and down it.
God stands above it and repeats to Jacob the promise made to Abraham and Isaac — this land, descendants beyond counting, and a blessing that will reach all the families of the earth — with one addition for a fugitive: I am with you, and will bring you back.
Jacob wakes shaken, says that God was in this place and he did not know it, sets his pillow-stone up as a pillar and names the site Bethel, the house of God. Jesus alludes to the dream when calling Nathanael.
Where in scripture
[10] Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. [11] He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. [12] He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. [13] Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your offspring. …
Genesis 28:10–22 — opening verses
He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 1:51
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
