"We are climbing Jacob's ladder," the old spiritual goes. This is the story of Jacob's ladder to heaven, which appears to him in a dream as he is fleeing from his home to avoid the wrath of his brother, Esau. Jacob has stolen his brother's rightful blessing from his father, Isaac, and so his mother, Rebecca, sends him away to her brother Laban's home in Haran (in what is now Iraq). On his first night alone in the desert, as he sleeps, he sees a ladder reaching from earth to heaven and angels descending and ascending it. Then the LORD appears and renews the promise given to Abraham of land and descendants. Moreover, the LORD pledges to be with Jacob, wherever he might go.
Jacob names the place where he has his dream "Bethel," which means "the house of God," and many Christians think of "Jacob's ladder" as carrying them from earth to heaven after they die. But in their song Christians add verses about loving and serving God, for living our faith is what gives up hope for life with God after death. The Genesis story reveals that God intends to work on earth, through the lives of those who are faithful. For angels are not only ascending Jacob's ladder, but are also descending into the world.
Grace and peace . . . Bob
