📖 Biblical Definition
In Genesis 28:10-22, fleeing his brother Esau, Jacob lay down for the night at a place called Luz, with stones for his pillow. He dreamed of a ladder set up on the earth, reaching to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending on it; the Lord stood above the ladder and renewed the Abrahamic promise. Jacob renamed the place Bethel, “house of God.” In John 1:51 Christ identifies Himself as the antitype: ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
JACOB'S LA, n.
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A scriptural vision; the ladder Jacob saw at Bethel.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 28:12 — "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it."
Genesis 28:17 — "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
John 1:51 — "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
1 Timothy 2:5 — "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern spirituality climbs many ladders; Christ said He is the only one set up between earth and heaven.
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Christ's claim in John 1:51 to Nathanael is one of the most striking Old Testament identifications in the Gospels. Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. The ladder Jacob saw was a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Himself; He is the connection between heaven and earth, the only stairway by which traffic between the two passes.
Modern spirituality climbs many ladders — meditation, asceticism, philosophy, religious works, mystical experience. Christ said He is the only ladder set up between earth and heaven. The angels ascend and descend on Him. The Father is reached through Him. There is no other ladder. Climb the One the Father set up; refuse the others.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew/Greek roots below.
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H5551 — sullam — ladder, stairway
Usage
"Modern spirituality climbs many ladders; Christ said He is the only one set up between earth and heaven."
"The Father is reached through Him; there is no other ladder."
"Climb the One the Father set up; refuse the others."