Have you ever wakened in the middle of the night from a frightening dream? Some times, we have dreams that we wish would continue. In fact, we hope when we go back to sleep that the dream will pick up where it left off when it awakened us. Other dreams stump us and make us wonder if they mean something.

The Bible records the story of a man, Jacob, who had such a dream, a dream that startled him, a dream that befuddled him for a while, not quite sure its full meaning. Before we look at his dream, we need some background about Jacob that will help us understand the setting of his dream and its meaning.

Jacob had a twin brother, Esau. When his mother Rebekah birthed them, Jacob came out of the womb grasping his older brother’s heel. In that day that meant a great deal, because the first born son got the family blessing. The second born son got the leftovers. He got a blessing, but not the equal of the first-born.

Because Jacob came out of the womb grasping onto the heel of his brother, Rebekah and Isaac named Jacob. Jacob literally means heel grabber. His name described him perfectly.

One day Esau, came in from a hunt worn out and hungry. Jacob had made some stew. Esau asked for some of his brother’s stew. Jacob wanted what his brother rightfully possessed because of his birth order. He responded said to Esau, “I will give you a pot of stew if you will trade me your birth right.”

Esau decided to satisfy his hunger. He despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

As the boys grew older, their father Isaac became blind, approaching death. His wife Rebekah heard her husband say to Esau, “Go kill some wild game. When you come back I will give you your blessing.”

Rebekah schemed with her favorite son Jacob to deceive Isaac and pose Jacob as Esau. She fixed the meat to Isaac’s liking, dressed Jacob to appear as Esau and sent him to see his father. Jacob lied and called himself Esau. Jacob’s deceit fooled his father who gave him the blessing that normally went to the first-born son.

Shortly after these events, Esau came home from success in the field. He prepared a feast for his father and took it to him to receive his blessing. When Esau asked for his father’s blessing, Isaac declared that he had already given it to his brother. Esau departed the tent filled with grief. As he left, Rebekah heard him say, “When father dies I will kill Jacob.”

When Rebekah heard Esau’s angry outburst, she went to her husband hoping to protect Jacob and suggested that they send him back to her homeland to secure a wife. Isaac gave his blessing upon her idea and sent him away to Haran, the homeland of Rebekah, to find a wife.

One night, in his trip to Haran, Jacob stopped to sleep. During that night, he had his unusual dream. He dreamed that he saw a ladder from earth to heaven. He saw angels ascending and descending upon this ladder. Along side of him, he saw the LORD.

The LORD (Yahweh or YHWH) spoke to him in the dream. The LORD called himself the LORD God, the personal, powerful God. He spoke to Jacob and confirmed to him the promises that God gave to Abraham: the promised land, multitudes of offspring, his presence during his time in Haran, and a safe return to this spot of Jacob’s dream.

What conclusions do you think the Children of Israel drew when they read Moses’ record? Moses prepared it during their wanderings in the wilderness prior to their entrance into the Promised Land. These events gave them a glimpse of the character of God. He treated Jacob with grace, not giving him what he deserved because of his lies and deceits. In fact, he gave him the first-born’s blessing.

In that day, people believed in territorial and cultural god's. Unlike them, God showed his omnipresence, God everywhere present without geographical boundaries. He promised to go with Jacob into a distant land. Further, God promised to protect him there and bring him back, a sure sign of God's omnipotence and sovereignty over all things.

It encouraged the Children of Israel to remember God's nature. Like Jacob, they deserved judgment for their complaints and unbelief during their wilderness experiences. They knew of God's blessings upon Jacob and drew faith in God that he would fulfill his promises to them, too.

Through this dream, God also revealed in picture form his plan to enable humanity to ascend to heaven and to bring heaven down to earth. Prior to this time, Jacob’s ancestors in Ur attempted to reach heaven with a tower, called the Tower of Babel. God foiled the plans and attempts of mankind to reach him.

In the original Hebrew of the story, Moses used the personal pronoun “him” to describe the ladder, not “it” as frequently translated in Bible versions. Jacob’s dream showed them that God would make a way to link heaven and earth in the form of a person, without the futile works of humanity. God would provide a person to bring mankind to heaven and heaven down to the earth.

Jesus told how these events connect with God's progressive revelation of his plan of redemption. In the later portion of John 1, Jesus spoke with Nathaniel and told him how he had seen Nathaniel prior to their personal encounter. Jesus’ comments startled Nathaniel and caused him to believe on Jesus.

At this point, Jesus referred to Jacob’s dream and told him that he would see greater things than this. Jesus said,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of God.” John 1.51

In clear language, Jesus declared that he fulfilled Jacob’s dream, the ladder that pictured a person who would link earth to heaven and bring heaven down to earth. As a devout Jew, Nathaniel knew the story of Jacob’s ladder and of the attempt to build the tower to heaven. Now he knew the completion of those two different stories: the futility of mankind reaching heaven by his own works and the fulfillment of the ladder, a person, in Jesus Christ who would link heaven and earth.

God promised Adam and Eve and countless others for centuries that he would provide a champion, a savior, who would crush the head of the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve into sin in the Garden in Eden. God kept his word by providing his son, Jesus, as the promised savior who came down from heaven to earth to make a way for sinners to go up to heaven.

You may wonder how all of this relates to us today. Many today attempt to build their own towers to heaven by their own works. God does not accept the works of mankind to reconcile with him. He has provided a link, a ladder, a person, Jesus Christ, who made atonement for sinners like you and me. Through Jesus Christ, mankind can have access to God and reconciliation with him.

Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but by (means of) me.” John 14.6

God sent his son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to provide salvation to all who trust Christ alone and his provision on their behalf (John 3.16-17). God demands that we believe him and trust him. Perhaps you have trusted upon Christ and know the living reality of God's promises.