Verse 12 declares, "behold a ladder." This is the only place, that the word "ladder" appears in the King James version. It comes from the Hebrew word cullam, which comes from the root calal meaning, "to raise up." What does this ladder typify? The Scriptures are plain concerning the anti-type of our text. Consider Jesus' words in 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." In our test, Jacob saw "the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder." In John's Gospel, Jesus said they were "ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." This is telling us very explicitly that Christ is the antitype of Jacob's ladder.

Our text says, "Behold a ladder." Before a ladder can be set up, it must first set down on the earth. Did Jesus refer to Himself in this manner as being "set up? Certainly. Look at His words in John 12:32, "And I, if I, be lifted up from the earth."

Jesus was set down in this earth through the incarnation. Hebrews 1:6 declares, "He bringeth in the first begotten into the world." So the incarnation was when He was set down. In John 12:32 He mentioned being "lifted up from the earth." Verse 33 teaches us, "This he said, signifying what death he should die." We can clearly see that the lifting up or setting up first signified His death of crucifixion, when he was lifted above the earth and set up between heaven and earth. His vicarious work did not end there; truly that is where it began.

It was when this ladder was "set up" that the angels began their journey, and it was then, according to John 1:51, the Jesus said, "Ye shall see heaven open." Heaven was closed to men until Jesus was "set up" on Calvary' s tree, but through the atoning work, which was wrought there, Heaven (a way to Heaven or, as our text states, "the gate of heaven") is now open. Jesus taught us this when He cried, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

What did Jesus mean when He said He would draw all men unto Him? Consider His position: He was lifted up, and He was teaching us that we can be lifted up as well. By Christ being lifted up on the Cross, on Golgotha's hill, we may be "lifted up" from trespasses and sins. By His being "raised up [recall the word from which ladder is derived in the Hebrew, which means "to raise up"] from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). In Ephesians 2:6 Paul said, "and hath raised us up."

Let us look a little further into our lesson. Verse 12 says, "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven." "A ladder" (or one who would be raised up, Jesus Christ) was "set up" (a portrayal of Calvary) on the earth, and the top of it reached to Heaven. Here we find a chasm is bridged from earth to Heaven. This portrays man's reconciliation with Heaven. Through Christ, they are once again connected and united. This holds forth the truth, which the Apostle Paul declared, in 1 Timothy 2:5 stating, "For there is.one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."

This ladder portrays more than just the work Christ accomplished in His corporal body; it also incorporates His entire ministry, or the work wrought by His spiritual body (the church) as well. How do we know this? Because Jacob explained in verse 17, "This is none other but the house of God." What is the house of God? The Apostle Paul penned in 1 Timothy 3:15 that it is the church of the living God.

Our text not only deals with the setting up and raising up of His corporal body and the work which was wrought by that, but it also goes on to include the work accomplished by His spiritual body, the church (Ephesians 1:22-23), or the house of God 9verse 17), which is a figure of the church. In addition, it refers to "angels of God ascending and descending" in both the Book of Genesis and the Gospel according to Saint John. This is in the present and continual sense, and one rendering refers to them as "messengers of God."

May God help us to realize that the express purpose of Christ's advent was "to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10) The word "save: in the Greek is sozo, WHICH MEANS "TO FORGIVE AND DELIVER." This is what Christ accomplished in His first advent. Through being "set up" on Calvary and by the shedding of His blood is the remission of sins, or forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22 and Romans 3:25), and through His being raised up, there is newness of life. We are delivered from the power of death by new life. Through Christ, God "hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, the ladder, the chasm between God and man has been spanned.

Now, the question is, Do you enjoy the atoning work of Christ in you life? Has Heaven been opened to you? Have you been raised up? Or are you yet in your sins? You can be raised up if you will; but you must first recognize your condition and come to Him, and He will in no wise cast you out. [ The End ]