When Jacob was fleeing from his brother, he slept one night in the open air, using a stone for a pillow. “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it” (Gen. 28:12). When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (v. 17). In this dream the ladder did not come down from heaven but was already on earth. Unlike Peter in Acts 10:9-16, Jacob did not see something coming down; he saw something that was already on earth. We are not told that the ladder reached the earth, but that it was “set up on the earth” and that “the top of it reached to heaven.” Furthermore, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
In John 1:51 Christ is the fulfillment of the ladder which Jacob saw. Jesus said to Nathanael, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Christ is the One who brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven. According to our concept, Christ has gone away from the earth. But according to God’s concept, Christ has been set up on earth, and no one can move Him. Our Christ, who is the ladder bringing heaven to earth and joining earth to heaven, is now not only in heaven but also on earth. Christ has been set up on earth and He is reaching into heaven for the purpose of coming to us and joining us to Him.
The Lord’s word to Nathanael is the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream. Christ, as the Son of Man with His humanity, is the ladder that is set up on earth and leads to heaven, keeping heaven open to earth and joining earth to heaven for the house of God. As the universal ladder, Christ brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven and thereby makes God and man one. On this ladder the angels of God ascend and descend as they do their service “for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14). Here we enjoy Christ as the ladder that joins us to heaven and brings heaven to us so that we may be a heavenly people living a heavenly life on earth and inheriting all the heavenly things.
There is not a word in the Bible saying that Joseph was a type of Christ. However, if we read the book of Genesis carefully, we shall see not only that Joseph was a type of Christ but that his biography is virtually the biography of Christ. Joseph’s biography indicates that he had no defects. According to the record, he was perfect. In the Bible Joseph is the perfect one in the Old Testament, and Jesus is the perfect One in the New Testament. The four Gospels reveal that the Lord Jesus is perfect, without defect.
Some Bible teachers say that we should consider as types only those persons and things in the Old Testament that the New Testament clearly indicates are types. However, we should not be bound by such a man-made teaching. Even those who hold this concept make an exception in the case of Joseph, thus breaking their own rule. Although the New Testament does not say explicitly that Joseph was a type of Christ, no one in the Old Testament was a more exact type of Christ than Joseph was. This indicates that certain things in the Old Testament are types which are not referred to as types in the New Testament. In many aspects Joseph was a type of Christ: in being a shepherd, in being sent by the father to minister to his brothers according to the father’s will, in being hated by his brothers and betrayed by them, in being delivered into the prison of death, in being with two criminals, one of whom was saved and the other of whom perished.
In particular, Joseph was a type of Christ as the Father’s Beloved. Genesis 37:3 says, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age.” The fulfillment is in Matthew 3:17: “Behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I delight.” This was the Father’s testimony concerning Christ as His beloved Son.
Joseph was also a type of Christ as the Dispenser of rich food to His people. Joseph was the dispenser, the distributor, of the rich food of Pharaoh. As one who distributed food to the people, he was a good steward carrying out a stewardship. Christ is the real Joseph. He is the real Dispenser of the rich food of our God.