Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder

Jesus Christ meets our most basic human needs. We need companionship (we don’t want to be alone), we crave security (we don’t want to feel vulnerable), and we want a home–somewhere to belong (we don’t want to be rootless).

When God comes to Jacob, the patriarch is a fugitive who is alone and vulnerable. He’s been told by his parents to leave home–to leave the land of Canaan–and go about 450 miles to the northeast to find a wife. On that trip, he stops to sleep, and God appears to him in a dream and makes three promises: I am with you (you’re not alone), I will keep you (you’re not vulnerable), and I will bring you back to this land (you have a home).

It’s fascinating how Jesus uses this story in John 1 to show us something even more beautiful than what Jacob received. “Jacob’s Ladder,” for us, is actually a Person, and One who gives us everything that we truly need and want.