Jacob dreamed of a ladder set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. Jesus told us that this ladder was Himself! Listen in and see why Christ is a long, accessible, durable, dependable, effective, and revealing ladder!
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Christ – The Ladder Between Heaven and Earth
Genesis 28:10-17
Our text in Genesis 28:12 says, “Jacob had a dream, and behold a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” Now, one of the most important principles of Biblical interpretation is that we must compare Scripture with Scripture. What in the world is the meaning of this ladder in our text? Jesus Christ helps us to understand Jacob’s dream by something He told Nathanael in John 1:47-51. One day in the early years of Jesus’ ministry, He saw a young man named Nathanael coming to Him, and He said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” The name Jacob ultimately was changed to Israel. Jesus was saying here is a son of Jacob, but instead of being a deceitful crook like Jacob, this one has no deceit at all. Nathanael asked the Lord how He knew Him. Jesus replied that He had seen him under the fig tree. At that Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” At that Jesus answered him, “Do you believe because I said that I saw you under the fig tree? You’re going to see much greater things than that. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:47-51). In Jacob’s dream he saw the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder. Jesus said that Nathanael would see the angels of God ascending and descending on Himself, the son of man! What Jesus is saying is that He is the ladder of Jacob’s dream!
Jacob had this dream when he was running for his life. You see, Jacob had just cheated his twin brother Esau out of the birthright and the blessing, which were ordinarily conferred on the oldest son. What that means is that Jacob now would receive a double portion of the inheritance from his father and would become the leader of the tribe. We shouldn’t be surprised at Jacob’s crooked ways. When Esau was born he came out all hairy and red. When Jacob came out a few minutes later, he was clutching his brother’s heel. This earned him the name Jacob, which means “heelcatcher.” For many years Jacob lived up to his name by tripping up all kinds of folks through conniving and cheating. Well, when Esau found out that his brother had stolen his blessing, he was so furious that he began to plot how he could murder him. Jacob’s mother, Rebekah found out, and convinced her husband Isaac to charge Jacob to go on a 500 mile journey to find a wife, just to get him out of harm’s way. As Jacob ran for his life, it finally got dark, so he went to sleep with his head on a stone pillow. It was on that night, that God appeared to him in a dream, and revealed the Ladder to him. When Jacob awake, he was overcome with the presence of the Lord, and made a vow that he would serve the Lord and give him a tenth of everything that he possessed. This appears to be Jacob’s first real encounter with the living God.
This morning I’m going to use the word LADDER as an acrostic to help you see Christ as our Ladder. Christ is a Long, Accessible, Durable, Dependable, Effective, Revealed Ladder.
1. Jesus Is A Long Ladder
I do happen to know something about ladders. As the owner of a window and gutter cleaning company, we use ladders practically every day. I’ve got two company trucks, and each one has four different ladders on it. Each truck has a 28 and 20 foot extension ladder, a 6 foot stepladder, and a 3 foot stepstool. Sometimes on a gutter cleaning job, I’ll break out the 20 foot extension ladder and try to use it to get on the roof of a house, only to discover that it doesn’t quite reach.
Folks, this ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven (Gen.28:12). Well, just how far is heaven from earth? I’m not sure, but I do know it must be very far! Christ is a very long ladder. This ladder shows us the two natures of Jesus Christ. He is both God and man in one person. As a man, he was set on the earth. As God He was always in heaven, the eternal Son of God, infinite, eternal, incomprehensible and unchangeable. As a man, he reached all the way down to the earth. As God he reached all the way up to heaven. This ladder bridged the gap between heaven and earth, between God and man.
Why was the foot of the ladder set on the earth? Why, because man had sinned, and only a true representative of mankind could atone for man’s sin. If Christ would atone for sin, He must have a body in which to do so. God has no body and He can’t die. In order for atonement to be made, the sacrifice must suffer and die. In order to redeem us, Jesus must take on Himself a body and a nature like ours. “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me” (Heb. 10:5). “Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Heb.2:14-15).
Why did the top of the ladder have to reach into heaven? In other words, why did Jesus have to be God as well as man? It was Christ’s Deity which gave his sufferings infinite worth, virtue, and efficacy. Someone once said, “Christ is both God and man, because God could not suffer, and man could not satisfy; but the God-man both suffered the wrath of God and satisfied the justice of God when He bled and died as the sinner’s substitute on the cursed tree.” Further, it was Jesus’ Deity which supported his manhood in His awful sufferings. Man could never have born the horrific agonies of Gethsemane and the horrors of Calvary if he were not also the everlasting God.
In order for Jesus Christ to be a true Mediator between God and man, He must be able to truly relate to both. He must be God that He might deal with God, which man as man could never do. He must be man that He might deal with man, which God in His holiness could never do without consuming the creature. Job complained that there was no umpire between him and God who could lay his hand on both of them (Job 9:33). However, Job was mistaken. There is an umpire – the Lord Jesus Christ, who can lay His hand on God, because He is God, and He can lay His hand on man, because He is man. There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). He is our blessed Immanuel – God with us. Indeed, Jesus is a Long Ladder!
2. Jesus Is An Accessible Ladder
Jesus is a ladder that all may get to. Whosoever will may come to this ladder and make use of it. Jesus said, “the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (Jn.6:37). All who come to this Ladder are welcome. If you don’t exclude yourself by unbelief, God has not excluded you.
So, how do I climb this ladder? Why is it so accessible? Because we climb it by faith. Faith is the hand which grips the ladder, and the foot which climbs the ladder. Actually, if escalators had been invented when Jacob had his dream, I believe God would have shown him that Jesus is our escalator. You see, faith is the opposite of working. Faith is resting. Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). Faith is simply resting in the work of Another, just as you rest when you ride on an escalator. We don’t get to heaven by working. Whitefield once said, “Get to heaven by my works?! I could sooner climb to heaven on a rope of sand than get to heaven by my works!” Because we ascend this ladder by faith, salvation is within reach of anyone! If we were saved by our goodness, or works of righteousness, we would all be shut out. But, because God has thrown open His salvation to all who believe, it is accessible and available to all! A tottering old man, and a little child can both believe. Oh, Jesus is an Accessible Ladder!
3. Jesus Is A Durable Ladder
I can tell you from personal experience, that other ladders wear out over time. It seems I have to replace my 6 foot stepladder every couple of years. My extension ladders will sometimes fall and the ends will bend, making them useless. However, there is a Ladder which lasts forever. It is eternally durable. The righteousness He wrought by His obedience to God’s law, is an everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24). The redemption He obtained by His sacrificial death at Calvary as our substitute is an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). Sinners from the beginning of time have used this ladder, and it has never failed any who used it, and it never shall. “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him” (Heb. 7:25) because the salvation He gives is eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9). This ladder will never grow old, weak, and break down. It will grant you eternal access to God.
4. Jesus Is A Dependable Ladder
Jesus is a durable ladder, because He is a dependable ladder. I’ve got some ladders that I’m a little afraid to use. They are lightweight, flimsy, and if a good wind picks up we might tip right over. Then, I’ve got another ladder which is heavy, but it is as solid as a rock. When you are up on it 20 feet above the ground, you feel that it is firm and unmoveable. Well, Jacob’s ladder was set on the earth, unshaken, unmoved, and immovable. Christ is a ladder that is absolutely dependable. You can count on Him, and He will never let you down. Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever (Heb. 13:8). “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Rom. 10:11). Yes, if we put our trust in other ways to God, we will ultimately be eternally disappointed. No other ladders will give us access to God, in spite of what they promise. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) than the name of Jesus Christ. My friend, people will let you down. Your family, your friends, your co-workers, neighbors, boss, will all let you down at one point or another. But Jesus Christ will never let you down, if you place your trust in Him!
5. Jesus Is An Effective Ladder
Sometimes my ladders are just ineffective. I might need a tall A-frame ladder that I can climb up and clean a chandelier, and all I have are extension ladders which must rest against a wall. Well, they are totally ineffective in doing what I need them to do. What is the purpose of a ladder? Well, it’s like a bridge. It bridges the gap between one place and another. In this case, Christ has bridged the gap between earth and heaven, between sinful men and a holy God. Jesus told Nathanael, “you shall see the heavens opened” (Jn. 1:51). The heavens have been closed since the Fall of man. Man’s sin has barred Him from Paradise. The only way that a sinful man can have access to God in His heaven is through this ladder. Christ is perfectly effective in bringing sinners to God. “Christ died for sins, once for all, the just for the unjust, in order to bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). Paul says that though we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Rom. 5:10).
Although Jesus is completely effective in bringing sinners to God, all the ladders of man are utterly ineffective. They all are set on the earth, but none reach to the heavens. They are like the tower of Babel which was built to reach into heaven, but instead God had to come down. The ladders of man are built to reach heaven, but they all come short. What are these ladders that men build to try to bring sinners into the presence of God?
- Mary: some devout religious people have exalted Mary, the mother of Jesus, into the status of co-redemptrix with Christ. While Jesus offered His holy person as a sacrifice to appease God’s wrath, Mary offered her prayers. Both together atoned for our sins, or so they say. They also believe that she is also a mediator through her present intercession for sinners. To them, Mary is a ladder that will bring them to God.
- Sacrifice of the Mass: there is one very large branch of Christendom that believe when the priest says his prayer of blessing over the bread and wine, that it actually changes into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. They believe that salvation is dispensed through taking communion, because they are partaking of Christ crucified all over again, every time they take communion. Have you ever wondered why they call the bread the “host”. The word means “victim.” To them, communion is a ladder, that will bring them to God.
- Following Religious Rules: other latter day saints believe that God can save them, but only with their help. In order to be saved they must work very hard and keep all the religious rules. They must go on a two year mission and spread their religious views. They must abstain from coffee and coke, and tea. They must marry in the temple, and make sure they do enough good deeds. And if they work hard enough and are good enough, they will make it to the third heaven.
- Priests, Medicine-men, gurus, sorcerers, religious rituals: all these are man-made ladders that will never bring anyone into God’s gracious presence. They are all in vain. They are all ineffective.
Do you see how all of these ladders of man’s making rob Christ of His glory? He alone is our perfect redeemer and mediator. And He will never fail!
6. Jesus Is A Revealed Ladder
As Jacob slept, God came to Him in grace, and revealed something to him that was always there, but that Jacob didn’t even know existed – a ladder connecting heaven and earth. Notice, that God didn’t command Jacob to build the ladder. The ladder had already been built. God simply revealed to Jacob what He had already provided.
Friends, God does not ask you to build yourself a ladder to get to heaven. What God does is to simply open your eyes and reveal to you the Ladder that He Himself has already provided. Christ has always been the Ladder bridging the gap between God and sinners. He is the lamb of God who was foreknown before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20). He is the Ladder that Adam and Eve used to get to heaven. He’s the ladder that Abel and Enoch, and Noah and Lot used to meet their God in glory. Jacob knew nothing about this ladder, so God revealed it to him in a dream.
You know, I was blind to the glory of Jesus Christ for the first 19 years of my life. Of course, He was always glorious, but I didn’t have eyes to see it. Then, in sovereign grace, God took the veil away. He healed my blinded eyes. I saw what was there all along, but until then I couldn’t see. I didn’t have to build myself a ladder. I didn’t have to accomplish enough good deeds. I didn’t have to do anything. All I had to do was behold Christ as my ladder. And I did. I saw Him as the Mediator, the go-between, the One who reconciles guilty sinners to God. And the moment I believed, I found myself on that ladder ascending on a journey of faith to heaven.
So, just what are the rungs of this Ladder that God reveals to us? Well, think of the rungs of the ladder coming down from heaven to earth. The first rung would be the covenant entered into between the members of the Trinity. The next rung would be the prophecies and types in the Old Testament pointing men to the Messiah to come. The third rung was the Incarnation of Jesus Christ – Him actually taking on flesh and becoming a man. The fourth rung was His spotless and holy life in which He fulfilled God’s law and made it honorable. The fifth rung was His substitutionary sin-atoning death on Calvary’s cross. The sixth rung was His burial in the heart of the earth. The seventh rung was His glorious bodily resurrection from the dead in which He defeated death forever. The eighth rung of the ladder is His ascension to the right hand of God from which He pours out the Holy Spirit and intercedes for all the saints that they will make it safely home to heaven. Now, that Ladder was provided free of cost to us, but only at the infinite cost of God giving up His only begotten Son to death.
Life Application
In Genesis 28:12 twice the word “behold” appears. This word means “look and wonder in astonishment!” As we apply this sermon this morning, I want to mention five different times in which we need to behold Christ as our ladder.
- Behold the Ladder when you are lost. The ladder shows lost men and women how to be saved. In order for a ladder to do you any good, you’ve got to get on it and climb. As soon as your two feet are on that ladder, you have lost all contact with the earth. That’s exactly what the Christian life is like. We begin the Christian life by being connected to Jesus Christ. How? Through faith. The moment you trust in Christ, you are united to Him, you are loosed from being an earth-bound, fleshly, worldly person, and you begin a journey of faith. If you have not yet become a disciple, the very first step is to come to Jesus Christ. Step onto that ladder. It’s that simple. Come to Jesus. Call on the name of Jesus. Confess your sins to Him. Confess Jesus as Lord. Believe that He died for sins and God raised Him from the dead. If you are not saved, look to Christ right now! “Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Is. 45:22). Oh sinner, behold the ladder and be saved!
- Behold the Ladder when you have sinned. Unfortunately, once we become Christians we are not always obedient to God. John says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). When we as Christians sin, we need to behold the Ladder of Christ. We need to remember that when Jesus died, He paid for all our sins, past, present, and future. Therefore, although we have sinned against God, we have not lost our salvation. We must simply confess our sins to God. Christ is still our Advocate. He is pleading our case before the Father. He is saying, “Father accept this sinning child for My sake. I have borne His guilt and shame at the cross already.” Oh sinning believer, behold the Ladder!
- Behold the Ladder when you pray or praise God. Did you know that your prayers or praises will never reach heaven, unless they are offered through Jesus Christ? Peter tells us that we are a holy priesthood and offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5). Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” That’s why God can’t accept the prayers of a Jew or Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist. They are trying to approach God apart from Christ. However, it is impossible for a sinful man to approach a holy God apart from the appointed Mediator. And even the prayers and praises of believers can’t be accepted by God apart from Christ because they are mixed with sin. We pray with wrong motives. We praise God lethargically. We can’t do anything acceptable to God unless we do it through Jesus Christ. Whenever you seek to serve the Lord in any capacity, behold the Ladder!
- Behold the Ladder when you are in distress. That is exactly the situation Jacob was in. He was in very real danger of being murdered by his brother. He is literally running for his life. And in that situation, God comforted him by showed him that angels were ascending and descending on this ladder. Angels are ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). The angels ascend to God to get fresh orders from him. They descend to the earth to surround and protect, provide for and preserve and watch over God’s people and bring them safely home. Well, here is one of God’s children in desperate need of protection, so the Lord shows him in a vision that He has angels ascending and descending all the time who fly to do His bidding. Thus, he can rest assured God will watch over him. You see, we not only need the Ladder when we would like our prayers and praises to ascend to God. We also need the Ladder when we would like God to cause His blessings to descend down upon us. Are you in danger or distress? Remember that Jesus Christ charges His angels to watch over and render service to His elect. If you are in distress, behold the Ladder, and be comforted!
- Behold the Ladder when you come to die. When Stephen was about to be stoned to death, God gave him a vision and he cried out, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Stephen beheld the Ladder as he was about to die, and it gave him the courage to die well. There will come a time in all of our lives, when we too will come to die. None of us can escape that day. Well, when it comes, what will you do? Behold Christ! He can change that from a time of terror and dread to a time of sweetness and joy, as you cross the river and enter your Father’s kingdom. When you come to die, behold the Ladder and rejoice!
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