Speaking of Jacob, Genesis 28:11 says, "He lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took one of the stones of that place, and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep" (Heb.). Jacob was in the wilderness and had no lodging place. Needing something on which to rest his head as he slept, he took a stone and made it his pillow. What is the meaning of this? It means that all human doing had been put away. There was no house, no lodging, nor anything made by man. Everything there in that place was God's work. When Jacob was at home, the situation was very different. There everything was made by man. But that night in the wilderness, there was nothing man-made. Everything in that environment had been made by God. If you examine your past experience, you will see that the first dream of your spiritual life came at a time when nearly everything man-made had been crossed out and put aside. All that remained was the heaven and the earth created by God. When Jacob lived at home, he could lodge in a man-made dwelling and rest on a man-made pillow. But in the wilderness he had to rest on a God-created stone.
If I had been Jacob, I would have been more clever, using either wood or clay instead of stone. I do not think that I could have rested on a stone. But Jacob did not use either wood or clay. As we shall see, it is very meaningful that he used a stone for a pillow. If you had been Jacob, would you have used clay or stone? I would have made a pillow out of clay and rested my head upon it. But this would have been something man-made. The stone which Jacob used for a pillow, on the contrary, was something created and prepared by God.
As nearly all the called ones can testify, before they were saved, they were forced to suffer, to be lonesome, and to be in an environment in which everything man-made had become nothing. According to their understanding, everything man-made was useless, and they trusted in God's creation, in the things made by God. It was at such a time that the dream from heaven came.
The principle is the same today. If you want another heavenly vision, then you must have some suffering. When the brothers give you a difficult time or when your wife troubles you, the heavenly dream will probably come once again. If you are always happy and in a pleasant situation, maybe no dream will come. Most heavenly visions come at a time when you are suffering or ill-treated. Nearly all the visions I have seen have come in times of suffering. No one likes to suffer. But when suffering comes to us under God's sovereign hand, we cannot reject it, saying, "Suffering, I don't like you. Go away." The more we say this, the faster the sufferings will pursue us.
I know from my own experience that the vision does not often come when we are happy; it comes when we are suffering. When we are happy in the wonderful church life, the heavenly dream may not come. But when we are troubled by the brothers, the sisters, and the elders, the dream comes. If you have not had a heavenly dream since you were saved, this may prove that you have not been suffering. If there is no suffering, there may be no dream. But whenever we are deprived of so many man-made things and are brought to the place where there are only the God-created things, that is, when we are cut off from what is of man and put our trust in what is of God, the vision comes. The heavenly vision comes in this way.
Consider Jacob's experience. He had been chosen and predestinated by God. But because he was struggling and striving to get what God intended to give him, he found himself in difficulty. Then God sovereignly came in to force him to leave his home, bringing him into a situation where he was lonely and without the help of man. Suppose you had been Jacob, having to leave your home and family and being so lonely. How would you have felt? If I had been he, I would have been completely disappointed. Nevertheless, at that very time, the dream came.