Recently, while reading in the Old Testament at Genesis 28:12, I read about Jacob’s dream of the angels and the ladder going to heaven. Today, I read John 1:51 in which Jesus is talking to one of his disciples and tells him that he will see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man from heaven. Is there any relationship between these two situations?<\/p>\n\t
“And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man”<\/em>” (John 1:51).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jesus is alluding to Jacob’s dream as an allegory. He is using this earlier event to illustrate a point so that it stays in the listener’s mind. Instead of angels ascending and descending on a ladder, Jesus substitutes himself for the ladder. Thus, he makes the point that he will become the mediator or path between God and mankind.<\/p>\n
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus<\/em>” (I Timothy 2:5).<\/p>\n
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me<\/em>” (John 14:6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Recently, while reading in the Old Testament at Genesis 28:12, I read about Jacob’s dream of the angels and the ladder going to heaven. Today, I read John 1:51 in which Jesus is talking to one of his disciples and tells him that he will see the angels ascending and descending upon the Son…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[25,959,210],"class_list":["post-16095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-jacob","tag-john","tag-symbolism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87550,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/transition-jacob\/","url_meta":{"origin":16095,"position":0},"title":"Transition Jacob?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dale Smelser Jacob did not begin life with the character he possessed later in life. Jacob is first described as a \"quiet man, dwelling in tents\" (Genesis 25:27 ASV). The ASV footnote says for quiet, \"harmless.\" So the Pulpit Commentary adds, \"harmless\u2026of mild and gentle manners (activity).\" \"Dwelling in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20757,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-john-doubt\/","url_meta":{"origin":16095,"position":1},"title":"Why did John doubt?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew 3:13-17, John the Baptist meets Jesus and is resistant to baptizing him because he \"seemed\" to know that he was the Messiah and he thought that Jesus should baptize him instead. \u00a0Did John see the clouds open up and hear God's voice?\u00a0 Later, in Matthew 11:2-6, when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40433,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-gain-the-power-to-do-miracles-because-he-fasted\/","url_meta":{"origin":16095,"position":2},"title":"Did Jesus gain the power to do miracles because he fasted?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Before Jesus began his ministry, he was led to the desert where he was tempted. He fasted the whole period. Many in the denominations claim he was empowered two perform miracles after his fast, such as turning water into wine, etc. In their claim, two miracle-working powers popular are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66951,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-song-blessed-assurance\/","url_meta":{"origin":16095,"position":3},"title":"The Song \u201cBlessed Assurance\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This song declares the praises of our Savior \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What is meant by saying this is my story? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The foundation of this song is II Corinthians 3:1-6 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Christians in Corinth were the living proof of the work of the apostle Paul. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They have confidence towards God,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-spirit-cannot-be-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":16095,"position":4},"title":"The spirit cannot be God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: [Note: This has been severely reduced from the original because it was too long and filled with twisted usage of the Scriptures. I am only presenting a summary so you can get the gist of the arguments made.] The spirit cannot be God. If your congregation is singing praises\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20450,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-harmonize-matthew-1034-and-matthew-2652-and-also-john-313-and-ii-kings-211\/","url_meta":{"origin":16095,"position":5},"title":"Can you help harmonize Matthew 10:34 and Matthew 26:52, and also John 3:13 and II Kings 2:11?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need help harmonizing a few passages. People use them to claim contradictions. I know the problem is not in the Bible but rather in the person\u2019s approach. Please help me learn to soundly harmonize Matthew 10:34 and Matthew 26:52. Matthew 10:34 says Jesus came to bring the sword.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16095\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}