Christ as the heavenly ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven signifies that He brings the earth into communication and union with heaven. He is the One who brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven. First, through His incarnation He brought heaven to earth; then, He went through death and resurrection to join earth to heaven. Now He is not only in heaven but also on earth. Christ has been set up on the earth and has reached into heaven for the purpose of bringing God to us and bringing us to God.
On the ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven the angels of God were ascending and descending. The angels of God are the ministering spirits, sent forth for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). They ascend and descend on Christ as the heavenly ladder, signifying that they serve from the earth to heaven for the sake of us, God’s elect.
In his dream Jacob saw Jehovah standing above the ladder and speaking to him, giving him the promise concerning his seed and the land and giving him also the blessing for his living (Gen. 28:13-15). This signifies that God converses from heaven with His elect on the earth through Christ. Hebrews 1:2 says that God “has...spoken to us in the Son [Christ].” Today, in the New Testament age, God is speaking through Christ that we may know God’s intention and enjoy God’s promise and supply.
In Genesis 28:16-17 Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob’s calling that place the house of God must have been the result of a revelation from God. This indicates that Christ, as the ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven, keeps heaven open to earth and joins earth to heaven for the producing of the house of God, Bethel, which is God’s dwelling place on earth. Today this dwelling place is the church (Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Tim. 3:15).