Genesis 28:10-19 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel

This happened during a difficult time in Jacob’s life. He had stolen his brother’s birthright, tricked his father into giving him his blessing, and, in consequence, had to leave his family and travel to a place he had never been to be with people he had never met. On his way, in the middle of a rocky place with no shelter, but with night falling, he made a crude bed on the hard ground with only a stone for his pillow.

In that place of barrenness and emptiness, cold and alone, Jacob had a vision of the promises of God. His dream of the ladder reminds us that although Heaven is invisible to us, the way is open even when God seems farthest from us. Awakening the next morning, awestruck, he blessed that place and named it Bethel, House of God. The New Testament tells us that we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. As a choir we have sung, “Send it on down, Lord, send it on down,” and like the angels on Jacob’s Ladder, God sends his blessings down to us.

In her poem, “The Jacob’s Ladder,” Denise Levertov imagines the ladder as a stone ladder—one where “angels must spring \ down from one step to the next, giving a little lift of the wings” which is how it seems at times waiting for the blessings to fall from heaven, as if we are far removed and blessings like her vision of the angels, struggle to reach us.

Levertov also suggests “a man climbing \ must scrape his knees, and bring \ the grip of his hands into play” revealing the image of a man kneeling in prayer, asking blessings from the father. But, she tells us, “The cut stone \ consoles his groping feet.” Coming to God in prayer and humility comforts us. And it is then Levertov says, he feels “Wings brush past him,” and his prayer, like the poem “ascends” because it is only in humility and prayer that we can come before God and have the comfort of knowing his blessings and promises are ours, despite what our circumstances might look like.

“The Jacob’s Ladder” by Denise Levertov