Genesis 28 - Stairway to heaven

“Genesis 28:16 — “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

Jacob met God in his darkest hour, the lowest point of his life. He was not at home, comfortable and secure. He was running from the consequences of his own sin. He had deceived his father, enraged his brother, and now found himself alone in the wilderness with only a stone for a pillow. But it was there, in the dark, that God decided to reveal to him the stairway to heaven.

This helps us understand how the grace of God works. He does not wait for Jacob to clean himself up before He reveals himself. He does not meet with him because Jacob has earned it. Heaven comes down to a guilty, frightened, lonely man. Then the Lord promises His presence, His protection, and His faithfulness.

But the greater mystery is that Jacob’s ladder or the stairway to heaven points us to Jesus. In John 1:51, Jesus says that the angels of God will ‘ascend and descend on the Son of Man’. In other words, Jesus Himself is the bridge between heaven and earth. We cannot buy, climb, or build our way to God. The stairway is not our goodness, effort, religion, or success. The stairway is Christ.

Jacobs' response to seeing the stairway to heaven was to bargain with God: “Lord, if You bless me, then I will follow You.” Instead we should be encouraged to come to Jesus with repentance and faith. The God who met Jacob in the wilderness still meets sinners today through Jesus Christ. He is the way to heaven, the house of God, and the gate of life.