NOTES for Gen 28:1-22
Jacob’s first encounter with God described in Genesis takes place as he flees to Harran, Abraham’s homeland. It was very important, for it is here that God renews with Jacob the covenant made with Abraham. In ancient times, covenants had to be renewed or confirmed when circumstances changed substantially, particularly when one of the parties died. The deceased person’s heir then had to confirm that the agreement made with his father remained in force for him as well. For Jacob, this was his first encounter with the God of Abraham.
Of course, Jacob could not have failed to hear about Him; it is impossible even to imagine otherwise. But hearing and meeting face to face are not the same thing. The encounter takes place in an old and probably abandoned sanctuary at Bethel that Abraham had founded. It was unexpected: Jacob did not even understand where he had found himself at night or on what stone he had slept. That is hardly surprising. Nomadic sanctuaries were simple and modest, most often merely a circle of stones laid out on the ground, with another large, flat stone in the center that served as an altar.
It was this altar stone that Jacob used as a headrest. In ancient times, people would often spend the night in a sanctuary in order to learn the will of the deity to whom it was dedicated. Visions, whether in sleep or while awake, shown to a person during such a night were considered a revelation of the deity’s will or an answer to a question the person had asked.
Jacob, too, sees such a dream. Before his eyes appears a stepped altar like the many that existed at the time in the cities of the Near East. At the top, on the altar platform, Jacob sees the God of Abraham standing; the account gives no details of the scene, but mentions only the fact itself. A stairway leads upward, and angels, God’s messengers, move up and down it. God renews the covenant with Jacob and leads him after Himself, upward toward Him. The whole journey still lies ahead; Jacob stands only at the lowest step of the stairway. Yet God has made a covenant with him, which means that his journey has begun.