NOTES for Gen 28:1-22
The first meeting of Jacob with God described in the Book of Genesis happens when he is fleeing to Haran, the homeland of Abraham. It was very important: here God renews with Jacob the covenant-union made earlier with Abraham. In ancient times, concluded alliances had to be renewed or confirmed when the situation changed significantly, in particular when one of the parties died; then the heir of the deceased had to confirm that the agreement made with his father remained in force for him as well. For Jacob, this was his first meeting with the God of Abraham.
Of course, Jacob could not have failed to hear about Him - that is impossible even to imagine - but hearing and meeting face to face are not the same thing. The meeting takes place in an old and, at that time, probably abandoned sanctuary at Beth-El, founded by Abraham himself. It was unexpected: Jacob did not even understand where he had ended up at night or on what stone he had slept. And that is no surprise: the sanctuaries of nomads were simple and modest, most often just a circle of stones laid out on the ground, with another, large and flat stone usually in the center, serving as an altar.
Jacob used this altar stone as a headrest. In ancient times, people often stayed overnight in a sanctuary in order to learn the will of the deity to whom it was dedicated. Visions, in a dream or while awake, shown to a person on such a night were considered a revelation of the deity's will or an answer to a question the person had asked.
Jacob sees such a dream: before his eyes appears a stepped altar like those that then existed in large numbers in the cities of the Near East. At the top, on the altar platform, Jacob sees the God of Abraham standing there; the story gives no details of the scene, mentioning only the fact itself. A stairway leads up there, and angels, God's messengers, move up and down on it. God renews the covenant with Jacob and leads him after Himself - up there, to Himself. The whole road still lies ahead; Jacob is only at the bottom step of the stairway. Yet the covenant with him has been made by God, and therefore his road has begun.