GENESIS 28:10-22 JACOB'S LADDER

I chose this famous story twice as the subject for my art projects.

          Highway to Heaven (2009 college)

            Vision at Luz (2005 assemblage)

Dreams sent from God represent an important theme that runs throughout the Bible, both OT and NT. Their association with the visions and oracles received by the prophets is a bit uncertain. For example, Thomson notes the close association of dreams with prophets in passages such as Deuteronomy 13:15; I Samuel 9:9; and Jeremiah 23:25,32. However, he feels that the last verses mentioned indicate that the Word of God given through the prophets was superior. And Bright goes as far as to state: “So far as we know, the classical prophets never received divine revelation through dreams (as contrasted to visionary experiences).” But in terms of the OT patriarchs, there is no doubt that dream revelations play an important part in their guidance.

If one considers the strange nighttime encounter of Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32:24-30 as a possible dream revelation, then five of the instances of patriarchs receiving dream messages from God form the symmetrical pattern shown below.
    A. Warning against taking action against a patriarch (Genesis 20:3-6)
            B. Jacob is blessed by God (Genesis 28:10-17)
                    C. Specific instructions to Jacob (Genesis 31:10-11)
    A'. Warning against taking action against a patriarch (Genesis 31:24)
            B'. Jacob is blessed by God (Genesis 32:24-30)
This arrangement in which B and B' are taken as parallel, helps to explain Genesis 48:3 in which Barnhouse sees great importance to Jacob beginning his speech with “life began for me at Luz...” This is another name for Bethel where Jacob received his blessing associated with the ladder to heaven.
Genesis 28:12        One of the first things I should point out is that “ladder” is probably not the best translation for a Hebrew word that implies a ramp or stairway. Thus, it suggests the picture of a ziggurat such as the Tower of Babel.
Genesis 28:13-16    “Jacob...received blessing not because of his deception but as a result of his closer relationship with God.” (McKeown)
To the promise of land, seed, and international blessing are added at Genesis 35:9-15 “the promise of royal progeny...further verifying that the special line of Abrahamic descent will be traced exclusively through Jacob.” (Williamson)
Genesis 28:15        “The OT concept of exile...finds its canonical roots in the Pentateuch...Jacob has to leave his home and go into exile after he has received the patriarchal blessing from his father...There is a promise of return from exile included in the story (Gen 28:15), which finds its fulfillment in the return of Jacob to Canaan and his reconciliation with Esau (Gen 32).” (Klingbeil)
“The prognostic dream message was sealed, not with an image or an act but with a solemn phrase 'I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” (Hunt)
Genesis 28:17        Carr suggests that Jacob's description of the place as 'the gate of heaven' “suggests the ancient view that a sanctuary was a place where the god came to earth.”
Genesis 28:18        Jacob's stone pillow becomes a pillar instead to memorialize the place and the event. Carr unnecessarily suggests that such sacred monuments perhaps signified “male powers of fertility.”
Fleming notes that the patriarchs “were noticeably free in their worship, using means common to people of their time that were later banned because they were too closely associated with other gods or offensive forms of worship.” Cited as an example was Jacob's setting up the stone since “such massebot were outlawed for Israel (Lev. 26:1; Deut 7:6).” Other examples of patriarchs erecting stones are found in Genesis 12:7; 26:24-25; and 35:1-15.

Genesis 28:20-21    “This response by Jacob to God's enunciated promises (Gen 28:13-15) is positive but conditional. It is expressive of faith but requires additional evidence...” (Sheriffs)
Hawk is even more negative in his assessment of Jacob's response, labeling it “conditional and scheming.”
Barker states that “Jacob's prayer for 'peace' is based on his experience of God's presence. The Bible goes on to show that ultimately God's provision for restitution for sins makes such peace possible.”
New Testament citation
    John 1:47 // Genesis 27:35; 32:28
Nathanael is said to be an Israelite without deceit. Carr points out that Nathanael may be seen to represent “those in Israel who have no deceit, i.e., none of the qualities of Jacob before he became Israel.”
    John 1:51 // Genesis 28:12
Continuing the Jacob references, Jesus tells Nathanael that he “will see the heavens opening and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” as a clear allusion to Jacob's dream when he was fleeing from Esau. “Jesus is the 'new Bethel,' the place where God is revealed, where heaven and earth, God and humanity, meet.” (Kostenberger)