Jacob’s Ladder
"And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven." -Genesis 28:12
I cannot help admiring that part of the Litany in which we pray that God would take care not only of the grown people, but also of children: God take care of yours both in body and soul. But what gave the greatest comfort to Jacob was that the Lord was on the top of the ladder, which I do not know whether it would have been so, if Jacob had not seen God there. It comforts me, I assure you, to think that whenever God shall call for me, I shall be carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom. I have often thought that whenever that time comes, that blessed, long longed-for moment comes, as soon as ever they have called upon me, my first question will be to them, “Where is my dear Master? Where is Jesus? Where is that dear Emanuel, who has loved me with an everlasting love, and has called me by his grace, and has sent you to fetch me home to see his face?” But I believe you and I shall have no occasion to ask where he is, for he will come to meet us, he will stand at the top of his ladder, to take his pilgrims in; so God was at the top of the ladder ... He appears not sitting, as he is often represented in heaven, but standing: as much as to say, “Here, here, Jacob; your brother wants to kill you ... but here I am ready in order to preserve you. I stand above, and I see your weariness; I see the fatigue and hardships you have yet to undergo, though you do not see it yourself. You have thrown yourself upon my providence and protection, and I will give you my word that I will stand by you.
*Excerpted from George Whitefield Daily Readings, p. 150 (Christian Heritage, 2010).
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