When people think of angels, they sometimes think of them as baby angels, not adult angels. They fly around on their wings (not the people, but angels), play the harp and shoot arrows. They had just taken a bath, and they smell good. But that is not the picture of angels in the Bible. Angels are simply God’s helpers, and they do various types of work to, well, help God. But perhaps, angels are best understood to be God’s message deliverers. We typically think of them relaying messages from God to his people. We don’t typically think of messengers ascending and descending. So what is angels ascending and descending all about?
Is it possible angels ascending and descending has something to do with angels delivering God’s messages? I think so. Firstly, I think the picture of angels ascending and descending says that God is present in this place. God is not somewhere else. Jacob himself said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Secondly, angels ascending and descending says here is a place where God is actively sending messages to and receiving messages from man, through angels. Here is a dialogue happening between God and man. Heaven meets earth here.
Esau planned to kill Jacob, and he was driven to take out Jacob. So, Jacob was forced to flee to Haran. I think we can all understand how he must have felt. In his distress, he felt alone, that God had left his life, and that God no longer cared. But all of that changed after Jacob’s dream. In the dream, God appeared to Jacob. He said he would give him many descendants, and he would give him the land exactly where he had stopped for the night. Lastly, he said he would protect him, and not leave him until the promise is fulfilled. Using so many words, God said he had not forgotten about him, at all, and reassured him everything he promised him still stands. If you have this strange flashback God was repeating to Jacob what he said to Abraham, in Genesis 17, then again in Genesis 19, you are not wrong. Jacob went from feeling despair to feeling strengthened, all in the duration of a dream. Angels ascending and descending in the dream confirmed to him the Almighty was speaking.
We know that there are two stories in the Bible of angels ascending and descending. There is a story of angels ascending and descending in Genesis and another story of angels ascending and descending in John? Were there any differences between the two stories? I am glad you asked.
In Genesis, the angels were ascending and descending on the ladder. In the Gospel of John, however, they were not ascending and descending on the ladder. As a matter of fact, there was no ladder. There is no mention of a ladder. Instead, angels were ascending and descending on the Son of Man. For this reason, some would say that the Son of Man is the new ladder. The Son of Man is where the ladder was. The Lord is now exactly where the angels were ascending and descending. What this means is that he is now the means of contact between earth and heaven.
Not only that the ladder has disappeared in the Gospel of John, but equally significantly, consider the location where the Lord was positioned in the two stories. In Genesis, “the Lord stood above it”, referring to the ladder. The Lord was at the top of the ladder. In other words, the angels were sending and receiving messages between God and man. Compare that to the story in John where the Lord was not above, or below a ladder. There was no ladder. The Lord was not above or below anything. If you will, the Lord no longer stood above the ladder, and angels were ascending and descending to relay messages between God in heaven and man on earth. The Lord is exactly where the ladder was. He is not in heaven, far from his people. He is near. He has never been closer to man, and never been more accessible to man. The Son of Man has bridged the gap between God and man.
Is it possible angels ascending and descending was a technical phrase in the days of the Bible? Maybe. Is it possible angels ascending and descending was a sign divine messaging is going on? I think so. Because of Jesus’ excellent work on the cross, we have intimate access to the Father. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Because of him, truly, truly, heaven is opened. He is the mediator between heaven and earth. Hallelujah! What a Savior!