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Jacob's Mystical Ladder.
The anger of Esau against Jacob was too visible to be hid from Rebekah; and the tender love she had for Jacob caused her to send him away for a time, though grieved to let him out of her sight. To reconcile her husband Isaac to it, she spoke of his marriage—how grieving it would be if her son Jacob would marry any of the daughters of the land of Canaan, as Esau had done against their wish. Jacob was sent away, more like a fugitive than the son of a rich person. Being overtaken by night, he was obliged to take up his lodgings upon the earth, with no softer pillow than stone. Here he dreamed that he saw a ladder, the top of which reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. He was the Lord above it, who encouraged him to proceed on his journey, and promised that his seed should be as the dew of the earth, as in him should all nations of the earth be blessed.
