{"id":23130,"date":"2025-11-27T08:10:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T16:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=23130"},"modified":"2025-11-28T09:41:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T17:41:00","slug":"nathans-commentary-on-parashat-vayetzei-genesis-2810-323","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2025\/11\/27\/nathans-commentary-on-parashat-vayetzei-genesis-2810-323\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacob\u2019s Ladder: YHVH\u2019s Plan of Salvation From Genesis to the Book of Revelation\u2014The BIG Picture!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction to the Study of Genesis 28:10\u201322<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jacob\u2019s vision of a ladder to heaven is<\/strong> one of those enigmatic scriptural passages which has befuddled the
keen intellects of many Bible scholars down through the ages. Perhaps the deeper elucidations of Jacob\u2019s
vision has escaped the reader as well. If so, you are not alone, for even well-known Christian commentators such as Matthew Henry and Adam Clarke struggled to find the deeper meaning of this allegorical dream but fell short of an adequate explanation. They realized that it had something to do with the Person of Yeshua the Messiah and his heaven-ordained ministry to reconcile earth\u2019s inhabitants to their Heavenly Father and Creator but had little more to say on the matter. Keil and Delitzsch don\u2019t even connect Jacob\u2019s dream to the Person of Yeshua. Other than vague explanations as to the dream\u2019s interpretations, these esteemed scholars have nothing more to proffer the reader. Little if anything is said of the allegorical meaning of the ladder, the dust, the stones (plural) becoming a stone (singular) or of the significance of \u201cthe place.\u201d Even the unusually insightful biblical scholar Arthur W. Pink in his book, Gleanings In Genesis<\/em>,though he draws 101 parallels between Joseph and Yeshua the Messiah, gives the reader no more insights into the spiritual and prophetic implications of Jacob\u2019s ladder than do Henry and Clarke. This is some of the best that Christian scholars have to offer on this subject. As we are about to discover, below the tip of this gigantic biblical iceberg there is a vast revelation of truth in Jacob\u2019s prophetic and allegorical dream that is waiting to be explored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before delving into the prophetic and symbolic significance of Jacob\u2019s ladder dream, perhaps Jewish Torah scholars have something to offer us. It goes without saying that the traditional Jewish interpretations will be devoid of any references to Yeshua the Messiah, but otherwise, perhaps we glean some pearls of understanding from them anyway. After all, these sages have been studying this passage for more than 3800 years! Curiously, Shlomo Yitzchaki known by his rabbinic acronym as Rashi and viewed by many Jews as the greatest Torah expositor of the last 1000 years, has little to add to our understanding as does Samson Raphael Hirsch, the great nineteenth-century rabbinic Torah scholar. The Baal HaTurim in his Torah commentary adds some interesting insights relating to the subsurface or hidden meaning of some of the Hebrew words used in the text that not only confirm the simple or plain meaning of the text, but add depth to it as well on an allegorical or prophetic level. We will cite a number of other Jewish scholars who between them contribute greatly to our understanding of the text. But for all their collective wisdom, these Jewish scholars, not surprisingly, fail to connect the meaning of the ladder to YHVH\u2019s plan of redemption and salvation for Israel and ultimately for all of mankind. They fail to see the big picture and master plan involving the Messiah, the Living Word of Elohim, sent from heaven to redeem lost mankind. Yet as we will discover, this revelation and much more besides is to be found in this dream that takes up only one verse in the Bible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the Christian scholars and the Jewish sages are blind in part to the truth behind Jacob\u2019s dream, since both have rejected half of the key to unlocking the full depth and panoramic understanding of this vision. The former has, to one degree or another, rejected its Jewish or Hebraic roots and the relevance of YHVH\u2019s written Torah, while the latter has rejected Yeshua, Living Word or Living Torah sent from Heaven to give us wisdom, understanding, redemption and salvation. Each side is spiritually blind in part to one-half of YHVH\u2019s truth (Rom 11:25). Both have stumbled over the stone of stumbling and the rock of offence (Isa 8:14). The Christians have rejected much of the truth of the written Torah, while the Jews have rejected the spirit of prophecy and YHVH\u2019s plan of salvation as revealed through Yeshua, the Living Torah (Rev 19:20). To understand the heart of the Father as revealed in his written word, Yeshua said that it would take both spirit and truth (John 4:23\u201324). With these realities in mind, let us proceed to understand the vision of Jacob in its full spirit and truth, panoramic scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Text <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now read the text in Genesis 28:10\u201322 pertaining to Jacob and his dream of the ladder to heaven. The bolded words are defined below under the \u201cWord Definitions\u201d section of this teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.<\/p>

11 And he encountered\/interceded\/prayed<\/strong> at the<\/strong> place<\/strong>, and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took of the stones<\/strong> of the place<\/strong> which he arranged around his head, and lay down in the<\/strong> place<\/strong> to sleep.<\/p>

12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder<\/strong> set up<\/strong> earthward\/on the earth<\/strong>, and the top<\/strong> of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of Elohim ascending and descending on it.<\/p>

13 And, behold, YHVH stood above it, and said, I am YHVH, Elohim of Abraham your father, and the Elohim of Isaac: the ground upon which you are lying, to you will I give it, and to your seed\/descendants;<\/p>

14 And your seed\/descendants shall be as the dust<\/strong> of the earth, and you shall spread out powerfully to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed\/descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.<\/p>

15 And, behold, I am with you, and will guard you in all places wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not forsake you, until I have done what I have spoken about you.<\/p>

16 And Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and he said, Surely YHVH is in this place; and I knew it not.<\/p>

17 And he was afraid, and said, \u201cHow awesome is this place! This is none other but the house of Elohim, and this is the gate<\/strong> of heaven.<\/p>

18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone<\/strong> that he placed around his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.<\/p>

19 And he called the name of the place Bethel<\/strong>: but the name of that city was called Luz originally.<\/p>

20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, \u201cIf Elohim will be with me, and will guard me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, <\/p>

21 So that I come again to my father\u2019s house in peace; then shall YHVH be my Elohim: <\/p>

22 And this stone<\/strong>, which I have set for a pillar, shall become a house of Elohim: and whatever you give me I shall repeatedly give a tenth\/tithe to you.\u201d (emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Word Definitions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand this passage properly<\/strong> and to discover the deep spiritual mysteries contained therein, we must first define some of the words from a biblical, Hebraic perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verse 11,<\/strong> The place [haMakom].<\/em><\/strong> In Jewish understanding, this Hebrew word is a reference to Mount Moriah, that is, the \u201cTemple Mount\u201d (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash<\/em>, p. 144, commentary on verse 11) where Isaac was \u201csacrificed\u201d and the Jerusalem temple was eventually built. The imminent Jewish Torah scholar, Rashi (Solomon Yitzhaki, 1040\u20131105) in his definitive Torah commentary also identifies the place<\/em> mentioned in this verse with Mount Moriah. In The<\/em> ArtScroll<\/em> Bereishis<\/em>, quoting Rashi,we read, \u201cThe Torah does not tell us which place. Instead it uses the definite article in the place<\/em>, implying that the identity of the place was so well known that it need not be specified. This indicates that it refers to the site referred to elsewhere by the designation the place<\/em>: Mount Moriah, of which it is said [in Gen 22:4 (see also Deut 16:16)]: \u2018he saw the place from afar\u2019\u201d (p. 1219). The same commentary continues, \u201cIt cannot refer to any place other than Mount Moriah since the Torah itself refers to that holy site as makom<\/em>, the place<\/em>, in several places [Gen 22:4; and as Ralbag notes, the future Temple site on Mount Moria is also obliquely referred to in the Torah as the <\/em>\u2018place<\/em>\u2019 Hashem [YHVH] shall select (Deut 16:16 and frequently)] Accordingly, by its reference to place<\/em> here, the allusion to Moriah is clear (Mizrachi)\u201d (ibid.<\/em>). Baal Ha Turim notes in his Torah commentary that in verse 11 the term the place<\/em> appears three times \u201cwhich is an allusion to the three pilgrimage [aliyot<\/em>] festivals [i.e., Pesach<\/em>\/Passover and Chag haMatzot<\/em>\/the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Chag haShavuot<\/em>\/the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and Chag haSukkot<\/em>\/the Feast of Tabernacles] at which times Jacob\u2019s descendants would ascend to this place [i.e., the temple in Jerusalem].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verse 11,<\/strong> Encountered, interceded, prayed [Heb. paga].<\/em><\/strong> According to The ArtScroll<\/em> Bereishis Commentary<\/em>, the Jewish sages interprets the word paga, <\/em>as used here and in Genesis 23:8 and Jeremiah 7:16 to denote prayer and intercession (p. 1219). If we realize that this place was Mount Moriah where the future temple would be built (explained below), then Jacob\u2019s praying at this spot is symbolic and prophetic, since the temple was to be known later as a house of prayer (Isa 56:7; Matt 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46), and became the place on earth where YHVH would hear the prayers of his people (2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 8:29; 2 Chr 6:20, 29; 7:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verses 11, 18, 22,<\/strong> Stone(s)<\/em><\/strong> is the Hebrew word ehben <\/em>meaning \u201cstone through the meaning to build\u201d (from banah<\/em> [meaning \u201cto build, builder\u201d]).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of the usage of the word ehben <\/em>elsewhere in the Tanakh (Old Testament) include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n