The Complexity of Jacob's Ladder (and His Pillow)

Sometimes I’m guilty of reading the bible too quickly.  I might get through several pages before I realize I’m only reading, and not making any attempt to listen to God through his words.  When I do that, I’m missing opportunities for God to reveal his awesomeness.  He can pack a ton of meaning, symbolism and substance into a short block of text.  Genesis 28: 10-17 is one example.

Jacob is on a journey in this passage, yet he spends half of it asleep.  We have a pause for spiritual journey in the midst of a physical journey.  And the setup here is already complex.  Jacob is running from his brother Esau, who wants to kill him because of a stolen blessing.  (Over the blessing, not the birthright, which is a whole other thing.)  He has also been told to travel to find a wife.  The man is trying to save his life and build it at the same time.  I’m a little exhausted just thinking about everything going on in his life.  It’s no wonder he goes to sleep when the sun sets. 

This is where he dreams of the ladder reaching all the way to heaven with angels running up and down the steps.  Somehow Jacob can tell that these beings with no bodies are ascending and descending.  Does he see them?  Have they taken on a form?  God is awesomely messing with my head at this point in the story.  And then God speaks to Jacob during this vision. 

There is much commentary on the passage.  Jesus compares himself to the ladder (John 1: 50-51) when he says angels will ascend and descend on the Son of Man.  The ladder is also a symbol of his cross, through which he opens the gate of heaven to those on earth.  The rungs of the ladder have been compared to aspects of Israelite (and later Christian) life.  Prayer is one step, sacrifice is a step and so on.  Another commenter talks about the virtues as steps we climb to bring us closer to heaven.  It’s like this amazing ladder is a symbol for every layer of its own meaning.

And then there’s the rock.  Jacob placed a stone under his head before he went to sleep.  When he awoke, he set the stone as a pillar, an altar to God.  This is where I realized I’d read some modern sensibility into the text.  I had imagined him tucking a little stone under the edge of his pillow.  But the bible doesn’t mention a pillow.  It doesn’t even mention a blanket.  It says he put the stone “under his head.”  The guy got a restful sleep with a life-altering dream while his head lay directly on a rock.  Sounds like a miracle to me.  He woke up and praised God for being awesome.  I agree.