Genesis 28:10-22 is the most crucial word in the revelation of God. If we know the Bible, we shall realize that here there is a radical turn, a new start, in the divine revelation. In the first twenty-seven chapters of Genesis, the term the house of God (Bethel in Hebrew) is not used. But in this chapter, the matter of God's house is revealed. The house of God is not merely a place; it is a living composition of living people. Where these people are, there the house of God is also. Hence, it does not depend upon the place but upon the people. If the people move, then the place where they once were is no longer God's house. How can a place be called the house of God? Only because the real, living house of God, a living composition of living people, is there.
Genesis 1:26 says that man was made in God's own image. This is wonderful. Man is man; he is not God. Nevertheless, he has God's image. In other words, man looks like God. It is correct to say this. If anyone has your image, he surely looks like you. It is very significant that God made man in His own image.
In 2:7 we see that the man who was made in God's image was constituted with dust. Do you realize that you were made with dust? No one is an exception. We were not made with gold, diamond, or steel; we all were made with dust. Is dust precious? Would you put a handful of dust into your pocket and keep it? No one would do this. Nevertheless, we were made out of dust. Romans 9:21 reveals that we are clay vessels. Dust and clay are nearly the same. When water is added to dust, the dust becomes clay. According to our material constitution, we are not precious.
In chapter twenty-eight the term changes from dust to stone. The stone in this chapter becomes the rest for the man of dust (v. 11), for the stone now holds the dust. It is quite meaningful that Jacob, a man of dust, rested upon a stone. Consider the picture in chapter twenty-eight. Here we see a tired, lonesome, disappointed, dusty man, a man who was not certain of his future. Needing some rest as the sun was going down, "he took one of the stones of that place, and made it his pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep" (v. 11, Heb.). The way to know the Bible is by the Bible. If we only read Genesis 28, we shall not know what it means. But when we read the whole Bible with the heavenly light, we see the meaning of the stone in this chapter. When Peter first came to the Lord, the Lord changed his name saying, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which translated means a stone)" (John 1:42). Approximately three years after this first meeting with the Lord, Peter, responding to a question asked by the Lord, said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:16). Then the Lord Jesus said to him, "I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church" (Matt. 16:18). The Lord seemed to be saying, "Peter, do you remember that on the first day you came to Me I gave you the name stone? This should not merely be a name—it must be a fact. Peter, you are a stone. I shall build My church upon this rock." Thus, Matthew 16:18 reveals that the stone is for the building of the church.
What is the church? First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the house of the living God. Ultimately, in eternity, the house of the living God will be the New Jerusalem. In Revelation 21 we see that the New Jerusalem is not built with clay or dust but with precious stones. Speaking of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:11 says, "Her light was like a most precious stone, as a jasper stone, clear as crystal." This is not my allegorization; it is the divine revelation.
We need to look at the Bible with a bird's-eye view. In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that although man was made in the image of God, he was constituted with dust. While the image of God is for God's expression, dust certainly is not suitable for the expression of God. Hence, there is the need for transformation. Transformation is not merely a change in form; it is also a change in nature, for the word transformation denotes a metabolic change. We need to have a change in nature that our nature and appearance might no longer be that of dust. In Genesis 2 man is dusty, but in Revelation 21 he is precious stone. In eternity, there will be no need for cleaning. While we are on this dusty earth, we must clean every day. But because there will be no dust in the New Jerusalem, there will be no need to clean it. All the dust will be transformed into precious stones.