Jacob was Esau’s twin brother. He struggled with Esau while they were yet in their mother’s womb (Gen. 25:22). When the time of delivery came, the two fought to be born first in order to obtain the birthright. When they were born, Jacob, who was the loser in the struggle, held on to the heel of the winner, Esau (Gen. 25:24-26). Even before they were born, God had already told their mother that the elder would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23). This signifies that God had chosen Jacob, who was born second, to be the firstborn son, and that Esau, who was born first, had failed to obtain the birthright. When the two were not yet born, before they had done anything good or bad, God chose Jacob, that the purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works, but of Him who calls (Rom. 9:11). In the history of Jacob, the divine revelation in the Bible points out especially this aspect. Therefore, Jacob symbolizes one who is chosen by God.
Jacob, the younger of the twins, was the second. In the Bible, the second, in the present sense, refers to that which is spiritual and that which is chosen and desired by God. For example, the Bible calls Christ “the second Man” (1 Cor. 15:47), indicating that He is spiritual and heavenly, that He comes from God, and that He is God’s delight. As a second example, our regenerated man is the second man; it is spiritual, unlike the one from our natural birth, which is the first, is earthy, and is natural. Jacob, the younger son, the second, symbolizes the natural man who has been regenerated to become the spiritual man, who is loved by God (Rom. 9:13).
On the way during his escape to his uncle Laban’s, Jacob slept on a stone, which he took for a pillow, and dreamed about a ladder set up on the earth, with God at the top of the ladder, saying, “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac...and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:10-14). The promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed was given first to Abraham and then to Isaac; here, it was mentioned to Jacob. God gave Jacob this promise so that the promise given to Abraham and to Isaac might be established and continued in him. Therefore, Jacob was one who inherited the promise, and all his descendants also were descendants who received the promise (Rom. 9:4). The promise that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with his descendants was related to Christ. Christ is the seed promised by God in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. To become the blessing to all the nations on earth, He, as the embodiment of the Triune God, became flesh, passed through human living, accomplished redemption, died and was resurrected, and became the life-giving Spirit that He might enter into all who believe into Him to be their supreme blessing.
In Jacob we see one who struggled, one who was a heel holder, a subtle and greedy one, yet one who, under God’s dealing, was ultimately transformed into Israel, God’s prince.
Jacob was born the second, having lost to his brother the struggle in his mother’s womb. However, he continually tried to supplant his brother in order to grasp the birthright. When he seized Esau’s birthright and the blessing of his father through deception, Esau hated him and wanted to kill him. He then had to leave his parents and escape to Laban his uncle. At Laban’s place, Jacob was deceived by Laban; he served Laban fourteen years for Laban’s two daughters and six years for his cattle, and Laban changed his wages ten times. In the day Jacob was consumed by drought, and in the night by frost, and sleep departed from his eyes (Gen. 31:40-41). The competing, envying, and wrestling between his two wives, Leah and Rachel, in childbearing (Gen. 29:31— 30:24) put him in a predicament. When he returned to Shechem in Canaan, his only daughter, Dinah, was defiled by Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, and Jacob’s sons plotted to get revenge. First, his sons Simeon and Levi killed Hamor and Shechem and all the men of the city. Then, his other sons came and spoiled the city, thus causing Jacob to be frightened and troubled (Gen. 34) and to have no peace. After this, his beloved wife, Rachel, died while giving birth to his youngest son, Benjamin (Gen. 35:16-20). His concubine was defiled by Reuben, his oldest son (Gen. 35:22). Also, he was deceived by his sons to think that his most beloved son, Joseph, had been devoured by wild beasts (cf. Gen. 37). All these things caused Jacob to be dealt with severely, again and again. All the sufferings in his circumstances were used by God to deal with Jacob from all sides that he might be transformed.