Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. [Genesis 28:10-12, NRSV]
[L] Jacob’s Dream by Gustave Doré, 1832-1883. [M] Jacob’s dream at Bethel, in the Catacomb of the Via Latina. [R] Jacob’s Dream by William Blake, c.1805.
At coffee corner one morning, a friend asked real simply, “Oh, by the way what is this ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ I heard mentioned the other day?”
1. The Context
Jacob’s Ladder comes from a story found in chapter 28 of the Book of Genesis.
Jacob, fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau for robbing him of their father’s blessing, lay down at night to sleep with a stone for a pillow. He had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching up into the heavens upon which were angels ascending and descending. At the head of the ladder was God the Father confirming the patriarchal blessing upon him and promising to protect him on his journey. Waking from the dream, Jacob realized that what he had just experienced was the bridging of the gap between heaven and earth. Desiring to remember the experience in that place, Jacob marked it by setting up an altar with a stone sitting on a pillar, so he would be able to find his way back to it one day. He called the place Bethel (house of God).
Christians, and indeed people of all religions, can resonate with that story and find meaning for their own “Bethel” – a church building or a shrine, a temple or a mosque, or any holy site. It marks a holy place, where mortal humans find a link between heaven and earth. It is a special place that offers a sacred space where one can sit and pray, reflect and give thanks.
Of the story itself, there is a rich deposit of interpretations. If we think of Jacob’s dream in terms of an archetypal dream for us Christians, then the following three lines of thought, amongst many others, may be helpful for reflection.
2. The Ascetic Interpretation
The theme of a ladder to heaven is often used by Church Fathers of the early centuries. Common amongst their interpretations is the ladder as an ascetic path. Thus, Origen of the 3rd century writes of two ladders in the life of a Christian:
- the ascetic ladder that the soul climbs on the earth, resulting in an increase in virtue;
- and the soul’s travel after death, climbing up the heavens towards the light of God.
St Gregory of Nazianzus of the 4th century also speaks of ascending Jacob’s Ladder by successive steps towards excellence. And in the late 4th century, St John Chrysostom extols the practical values of the ascetic steps:
- “For the ladder seems to me to signify in a riddle by that vision the gradual ascent by means of virtue, by which it is possible for us to ascend from earth to heaven, not using material steps, but improvement and correction of manners.”
A graphic legacy is left by the persecuted Christians in ancient Rome. In a 4th century wall painting in the Via Latina Catacombs, for example, we see this representation of Jacob’s Dream at Bethel. One can only imagine the immense encouragement the Roman Christians, shrouded in a climate of religious persecution, drew from paintings such as this, to stay steadfast to Christian faith and discipline.
In daily lives, many Christians constantly make little sacrifices for the good of their fellow humans, and we might imagine their conscious effort as steps in the ladder by which we are mounting to Christian spiritual height. On the other hand, if one turns to St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, we see in the spirituality of her “little way” that instead of fixing her vision on climbing to the heavenly throne, she insisted thus: “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth”. This is in powerful resonance with our prayer for God’s Kingdom to come “on earth, as it is in heaven” and very much affirmed by the theologies of such as N. T. Wright who insists that we ought to work and live like there is no “heaven” other than the heaven on this earth. With St. Thérèse and these theologians, to argue otherwise is escapist in reality, for it is right here on earth, that Christians are called to work for Kingdom-advancement. Christ did that, and the Church – the body of believers – he left behind, is to do the same.
3. Rich Symbolic Interpretations
Jacob’s ladder is rich in symbolism.
The African-American spiritual, “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder,” at once suggests that the ladder symbolises the ‘help’ that God gives to His people while they are journeying on earth.
For ancient Israel, the ladder was the symbol of God’s connection to the chosen people, and the messengers going up and down pointed to God’s continual provision for the people during their earthly journey. The ancient Hebrew people had no sense of life-beyond-death at all. For them, the emphasis was on God’s provision for the people in the here and now. The biblical context really did not have any particular importance for life-after-death.
The implication is vastly different for Christians who see the Old Testament as prefiguring the New and the New Testament fulfilling the Old. Reading the Old Testament today, Christians see different meanings in God’s revelation from the early Hebrew people. This springs from a different Christian perspective on various issues.
For instance, the Resurrection of the Lord, an essential key to the faith in Jesus of Nazareth as “the Lord and Christ” [Acts 2:36], compels a whole new vision of things. We still see that the messengers going up and down the ladder suggests God’s willingness to provide for us on our earthly journey, of course. But, since we are destined to share the Lord’s Resurrection that Saint Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15, we also see something else being implicit in Jacob’s dream. It now points also to the message of life-after-death that has become for Christians one of the primary tenets of our faith.
Related to this, our belief in the great communion of saints also sees the ladder that links heaven and earth as making the connection between us and those faithful-departed whom we celebrate on All Saints’ Day. Furthermore, God’s messengers going up Jacob’s ladder now point to the fact that our prayers can assist those souls in Purgatory who are awaiting their final entrance into the full glory of heaven. The messengers who carried Jacob’s supplication and prayer up to heaven, will now carry our prayers up Jacob’s ladder on behalf of the faithful departed.
Jesus himself has used the symbolism of Jacob’s ladder, but to refer to his intercessory and intermediary role. So to Nathanael he said, “Hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” [John 1:51]. This is in line with Saint John the Evangelist’s testimony: In Christ heaven and earth meet. He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” There is no way to approach the Father except through Jesus Christ [John 14:6].
The thoughts of two early Christian writers point firmly in this direction.
From St. John Chrysostom, we read that the Mosaic Law was like a ladder which allowed God’s people to ascend to the position of spiritual adoption and freedom. But from the advent of Christ, the people enjoyed this same spiritual adoption and freedom not by the works of the Law, but through faith in Christ. Having reached the top of the ladder, the climber no longer required it to attain his goals.
To Saint Augustine:
- “Christ is the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, or from the carnal to the spiritual: for by His assistance the carnal ascend to spirituality; and the spiritual may be said to descend to nourish the carnal with milk when they cannot speak to them as to spiritual, but as to carnal. There is thus both an ascent and a descent upon the Son of man.”
- “We ascend to Him to see Him in heavenly places; we descend to Him for the nourishment of His weak members. And the ascent and descent are by Him as well as to Him. Following His example, those who preach Him not only rise to behold Him exalted, but let themselves down to give a plain announcement of the truth.”
4. Of Dreams and Ladders
At the end of the day, the question comes back to our own ladder in life. Just as Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, “Who do you say that I am?”, Jacob’s dream compels us to search the depth of our soul with the question: “What is your ladder in life?” If we are climbing the ladder of success our whole life, do we now find that it is propped against the wrong building all along?
The lives of two famous “dreamers” in the Judeo-Christian Bible, both named Joseph, offer some spiritual messages in this regard.
Joseph of the Old Testament, the youngest and beloved son of Jacob, was dubbed a “dreamer” by his brothers. He had dreamed of honour and success among his family and nation, bringing impact to Israel. But, as things turned out, his dream did not come to life in his familiar Israel and amongst his own people. Instead, it was Pharaoh that God used to recognize the spirit and potential in Joseph’s life. It was a secular leader of a secular nation who recognized and let emerge the spirit and gift in a young man that others had not been able to see. Joseph’s dream was to impact Israel, but God’s vision was to lift him up in Egypt, a greater stage by far, so that his dreams would be elevated to impact the nations, including Israel.
The life of this Joseph of the Old Testament yields helpful lessons in life. Trashed and traded, abandoned and accused, he could have sunk in despair, and disappeared into oblivion in history. But he held onto his dream, trusted his God, and persevered in integrity, in a way that few could or even would. Yet, when it came down to what really counted in the vision of God, Joseph’s dream was too small. God had bigger things planned for him, and ways of achieving them far beyond Joseph’s wildest dreams. Ever since Joseph, the God of surprises have woken up limited dreamers, compelling them to let go of their small dreams and let God work wonders in their lives. Yet, one must see that the trajectory of the life God had in store for Joseph is daunting to say the least. Young people are future leaders. In our energetic youth, however, it is all too easy to live an existence that is merely keeping up with the Joneses, with our ladders of success propped up against some wrong dreams for a solid building. Like Joseph, our dreams may be too small. Like Joseph, we may be resisting God’s dreams for us and neglecting the kingdom calling in the prisons and palaces of an “Egypt” God has dreamed for us.
Then there is the Joseph of the New Testament, the carpenter who appeared at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel. He was a special recipient of messages from God in his triple dreams in which he was told to accept Mary who was with Child, to escape to Egypt to protect the Child from the murderous King Herod, and to return to Israel after the death of Herod. His preferred ladder in life had been a simple, relaxed, and easy life as an ordinary married man. But, God obviously had other ideas. Referred to as a “righteous” one of God in the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph was spiritually open to the voice of God. In faith and obedience, he would bracket off his own preferred ladder in life, to accommodate the “dreams” of God for the salvation of humanity. Joseph would protect the Mother and Child, at untold risks and costs to himself. Through his immense sacrifice, Jesus who lived under him would grow in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and man [Luke 2:52]. Joseph would do all that for God in utter silence, leaving not a single word in Scriptures. Complimenting Mary of Nazareth, Joseph the dreamer collaborated in earthing God’s dream for the salvation of the world.
It is easy to think that young people have dreams but old people only have memories. Christians, however, learn from the two famous Josephs in the Old and New Testaments that they are meant to be big dreamers with God. And Jacob’s ladder offers a great entry point for the Christian imagination.
Copyright © Dr. Jeffrey & Angie Goh, April 2015. All rights reserved.
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