JACOB'S DREAM: IT WAS A LADDER, NOT A STAIRWAY

Through my study of Hebrew, as cursory as it may be, I am discovering some interestingly revealing things that otherwise would evade further thought and serious scrutiny.

For instance, do you actually understand the meaning of Jacob’s Ladder? Found in Genesis, this is one of the most famous scenes in the Bible. But the tale of a distressed man, who dreams of angels ascending and descending a ladder to Heaven, has layered complexities. 

When Jacob was forced to flee the Land of Israel, he fell asleep and had a mysterious dream. One that scholars still debate the meaning of to this day. A dream of angels who climb and fallow a ladder to Heaven is heavy with significance.

Jacob’s dream has many interpretations. For many, the most significant one is: it could be that our spiritual lives follow a pattern. Sometimes up, sometimes down — but always reaching Heaven eventually. 

Our spiritual lives, like Jacob’s ladder, need “to be set up on the earth”. This provides the foundation we require to ascend in our connection with Heaven. The Hebrew word in this verse for “set up” is mutzav (מֻצָּב). This comes from the root “to be firm, unwavering”.  So, the original text means our spirituality must be rooted and firmly placed on the ground before we can climb.

Just as a refresher, Jacob’s dream about the ladder is found in Genesis 28:12. It reads as follows:

"Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, 'I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants'.”

The Hebrew word for “ladder” is sullam and it means ladder – not stairway as we often hear in a popular song.

There are two key reasons to believe that it is a ladder we are talking about. First, if the Holy Spirit had wanted to tell us that this was a stairway, He could have used the Hebrew word maala which translated is “stairway.” He did not do that. Come to think about it, there might have been not such things as stairways per se in Jacobs time.

No explanation is given in scripture as to why the ladder and angels appeared in the dream. However, they appear to symbolize that God is communicating with Jacob since the Hebrew word for angel, malak, actually means messenger and God is standing at the top of the ladder. The ladder does not actually exist. Remember, this was a dream.

In the dream God repeats the covenant promises made to Abraham and Isaac regarding a homeland for their descendants.

"Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:14-15

God promises to fulfill the covenant and never leave him. The entire dream reveals God’s awesomeness, sovereignty, and faithfulness. Even though God made the promises to Abraham and Isaac who were dead, He would remain faithful.

Have you ever felt that God was speaking with you maybe in a dream, or through another individual? Well, that very well may be a case where He is moving your heart in the direction that He wants you to go. It only requires that you are quiet and sensitive to His leading.