Genesis 28:12 says, "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." The center of this dream was a ladder. In this dream, did the ladder come down from heaven? No, it was already there on earth, and Jacob only needed to have a vision of it. Before he had the dream, he could not see the ladder. This means that everything necessary for receiving the birthright was there long before we were saved. The problem was that we could not see it. We had to have a vision in order to see it. Do not think that in his dream Jacob saw the ladder descending like Peter saw the sheet descending from heaven (Acts 10:9-16). Jacob did not see something coming down; he saw something which 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." It was a ladder already existing on earth, not one descending from heaven.
What about the angels of God on the ladder? When I read about them in years past, I always thought that they were descending and ascending. But this verse says that the angels were ascending and descending. This means that the angels were there before Jacob had the dream. When he saw them, they were firstly ascending and then descending. If Jacob had seen the ladder coming down from heaven and the angels of God descending on it, his dream could have been taken as an answer to Jacob's desire or prayer. If Jacob had said, "O God, I'm lonely and want to see a vision from heaven," and a ladder had come down from heaven with angels descending on it, it would have been the answer to his prayer. But it was not at all like this. Without even praying, Jacob suddenly saw a ladder set up on the earth, the top of which reached to heaven. That the angels were ascending and descending on this ladder indicates that the dream was not an answer to Jacob's prayer but that it had been preplanned by God.
Do not think that your salvation was an answer to your prayers. Before you prayed, salvation was there waiting for you. It was not that you prayed and then suddenly salvation descended from heaven and fell upon you. No, before you were saved, salvation was waiting for you, but you had to be forced to leave your home and every man-made situation and be brought into a lonesome environment. Then your eyes were opened to see what was already there.
In verse 12, unlike John 1:51, we are not told that Jacob saw heaven opened. Jacob did not see heaven opened, because it was opened before he even got to that place. When was heaven opened to you for your salvation? Did you fast, pray, and cry to the Lord to open heaven to you and then suddenly see heaven opened? No, heaven has never been closed to God's chosen people. Although heaven is open to us, we still need to come to Bethel. We may not want to come here, but we have no choice. Like Jacob, we have been forced to come here. Many of us came into the church life because we had no choice. We were forced to come. You may say, "If I had a way, I would get out of the church life." But, thank the Lord, you do not have a way. Perhaps you have said, "I don't like the situation in the church life. I want to go away." But praise the Lord that this is impossible. We all have been forced to come to Bethel, the place where we see the already-existing ladder. There is no need for us to beg and wait for heaven to be opened. Once our eyes are opened, we see that the ladder is already here. This is the heavenly vision, the heavenly dream. In this dream we do not see a ladder descending; we see the ladder which is here already.