What are some things that are nothings, yet famous? A hat, a chair, a notebook, a toothbrush? What else comes to your mind? What about a ladder? Yes, ladder. There are the Putucusi Ladder at Machu Picchu, and the Half Dome Ladder at Yosemite, and I am sure there are others. But did you know there is also a famous ladder in the Bible? I am thinking of Jacob’s ladder. Even for those who are not Bible readers, or have never read the Bible before, there are many who have heard of it. Did you know there are many songs named Jacob’s Ladder? Both Huey Lewis and the News, and Rush rock bands have songs named just that. Besides songs, there was even a horror/mystery movie released in 1990 with the same title.
We find the story of Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28. If you recall, Jacob was traveling between Beersheba and Haran, and he stopped for the night. While he was sleeping, he had a dream of a ladder that was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. Of all things, a ladder in a dream is interesting, but what is more interesting to me is that in the dream, there were also angels ascending and descending on the ladder. What was that all about?
So far, this is what we know. We know that this story was not reality. Jacob was dreaming a dream. We know there was a ladder set on earth in the dream. At the bottom of the ladder was earth. At the top of the ladder was heaven. There were angels going up and coming down the ladder. We also know that the Lord stood above the ladder. What is interesting to me is that the angels were not speaking to Jacob, or to each other. They were going up and down the ladder, and Jacob was watching them.
Genesis 28.13–15
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
After Jacob saw the dream, he said one thing, and only one. After he saw everything that took place in his dream, he realized the Lord was in this place. Up to this point, he didn’t know that. Genesis 28.16 said, “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.’” All to say, there is considerable mystery in the story, and we will come back to it.
For now, would you believe me if I told you Genesis 28 was not the only time in the Bible where angels were ascending and descending? It’s true. The picture of angels ascending and descending returns in the New Testament. This time, however, it was not a dream.
John 1.50–51
Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
In the story, Jesus told Nathanael that even before Nathanael had arrived, Jesus already knew him. Nathanael was simply blown away! So Nathanael called Jesus the Son of God, and the King of Israel because he had just seen a miracle. Jesus responded that he hadn’t seen nothing yet. Essentially, Nathanael would see greater things than the one he had just seen.
In Genesis was a story of angels ascending and descending. In the Gospel of John was also a story of angels ascending and descending. Is there some sort of connection between these two stories? What do you think? Going one step further. If you think they are connected, what does angels ascending and descending mean to you?