The divine name El Beth-El means 'God of the house of God.' God commanded Jacob to return to Bethel and build an altar 'to El who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau' (Genesis 35:1). Jacob named the altar El-Beth-El, honoring the divine initiative: God appeared first, called him back, and promised to travel with him.
Bethel was the site of Jacob's life-changing dream of the ladder between heaven and earth (Genesis 28). By naming the altar El Beth-El, Jacob honors divine prevenience — God acts before we seek Him. He was the God of that place before Jacob arrived, and He remains after Jacob leaves. The New Testament fulfillment is Christ Himself: 'I am the way' — the ladder joining heaven and earth is not a place but a Person.