Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

What a moment. What an experience for Jacob. Yes, it is described as a dream but it was a dream as real as reality, for it was a dream from God. God wanted to give Jacob a message. And what a message it was. For one, it was the straight forward message of passing on the promise that Abraham and then Isaac received (Genesis 26:24). Now Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, received the promise of descendants and a land. It’s topped off with, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.” What a gift and a promise that must have been for Jacob who was on the move and who had been warned his brother wanted to kill him.

And what a gift to receive that vision of the connection between heaven and earth. How awesome to stand at the “gate of heaven.”

There is another verse in the Bible that talks about this ladder into heaven. Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

Jesus is the ladder.

“Jesus doesn’t show you the steps of heaven – Jesus is the steps of heaven.

Jesus doesn’t merely come down to show you the way up- Jesus comes down make Himself into the Way to carry you up.” (Ann Voscamp “The Greatest Gift”; p. 68)

In John 10:7, Jesus declares Himself to be the gate. He is the connection between heaven and earth. And because he lives in us, we become connections between heaven and earth. The church is a connection between heaven and earth. In all we do, whether in or outside the church walls, we bring him; we bring a piece of heaven. How awesome is that?

Let us pray.

Lord, we give you thanks for the many ways you speak to us – the words of scripture, a still small voice, a friend, a dream. Help us to have ears to hear you. Help us also to realize how awesome it is to always be connected to you. We can trust that as you said to Jacob, you are with us and will watch over us wherever we go. Thank you for this grace. Amen.

Questions

How does God speak to you? Scripture? Other people? An internal nudge? Visions or dreams? Something else?

How awesome is it to consider that you are a connection between heaven and earth?

Take a few minutes out of the busyness of the season and just take that in and enjoy the presence of God.