Genesis 28:18-19 goes on to say, “And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head, and he set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel.” And he vowed a vow to God, saying, “This stone, which I have set as a pillar, will be God’s house” (v. 22). First, he made the stone his pillow. Next, he set the stone up for a pillar. The pillow is for man’s rest, and the pillar is for God’s building. Jacob’s making the pillow-stone a pillar signifies that, first, Christ is the stone as the lodging for the wandering believers, and then He is the material for the building of God’s dwelling place on the earth. He is a living stone, and those who draw near to Him also become living stones to be material for God’s building (1 Pet. 2:4-5).
Jacob poured oil on the stone and made it Bethel, the house of God. Here oil signifies the Spirit as the ultimate expression of the Triune God for reaching people. The stone signifies a transformed believer. Thus, the stone which was set up as a pillar and which had the oil poured upon it, symbolizes that the transformed believers are one with the Triune God so that they become the house of God. In John chapter one we see also that prior to the mentioning of Christ, the heavenly ladder, as the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream (v. 51), there is the mentioning of the outpouring of the Spirit (v. 33) and the stone for building (v. 42).
We were made of dust (Gen. 2:7). Our life and nature were natural. However, at the time of our regeneration Christ was wrought into us as the divine element within us to be the pillow-stone for rest in our human life and to transform us into stones as pillars for the building of God’s house. Furthermore, He pours the Holy Spirit upon us for us to be mingled with the Triune God for the constituting of God’s dwelling place on the earth—Bethel—the house for the mutual enjoyment and mutual satisfaction of God and man.
Jacob called the place where he met God the house of God and the gate of heaven (Gen. 28:17b). Although that place was on the earth, it was joined to heaven. This signifies that the church, constituted with the transformed believers, is not only the house of God but also the entrance to heaven; it is the house of God that brings the earth into union and communication with heaven. Here, the believers are one with Christ, in union with Christ, and in communication with heaven, and here also the earth is joined to heaven and heaven is brought to the earth.
In Genesis 28 Jacob was homeless and without rest (vv. 10-11). He had lost nearly everything and had no hope and no future. Under such a circumstance he was met by God. As a result, he saw the vision of a ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven and he also received the revelation concerning God’s dwelling place, Bethel. Thus, Bethel became the hope of God’s wandering elect, who left their home and wandered about, sleeping at night in the open air. This signifies that the church is the home and the hope of the roaming, wandering believers. Before we enter the church life, we do not have real satisfaction and rest; we are always suffering hardships and wandering about. However, when we come to Bethel, the house of God, and set up our pillow-stone for rest, which is the subjective Christ within us, as a pillar to be the material for the building of God’s house, we experience the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit and enjoy the satisfaction and rest of God’s house.
Jacob’s dream was fulfilled first when the children of Israel erected the tabernacle in the wilderness after their being delivered out of Egypt; that was God’s first house among men. Later, when the children of Israel built the temple in the good land, God had a more solid house on the earth. In the New Testament the church is the house of God. Eventually, in the new heaven and new earth the New Jerusalem will be God’s eternal dwelling place (Rev. 22:1-3), where God and we, we and God, will enjoy eternal rest and satisfaction. Today we are in the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream. We have not only the heavenly ladder, the stone, the pillar, and the oil, but also Bethel, the house of God. This house is a mingling of divinity with humanity, a composition of the Triune God and the transformed believers, as the place of rest and satisfaction for both God and man, a place where heaven and earth are merged.
The ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven in Jacob’s dream and Bethel as the house of God on the earth are types of Christ and the church. The ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven typifies Christ as the way for the communication between God’s elect on the earth and their God in heaven. The ladder’s being set up on the earth and reaching to heaven signifies that Christ brings the earth into communication and union with heaven. The angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder signifies that the ministering angels serve from the earth to heaven for the sake of God’s chosen people. God’s speaking to Jacob above the ladder to give him the promise concerning his seed and the land and to give him also the blessing for his living signifies that God speaks from heaven to His elect on the earth through Christ that they may know God’s intention and enjoy God’s promise and supply.
Bethel as God’s house on the earth typifies the church as God’s dwelling place on the earth. That Bethel was produced by the pouring of oil on the stone signifies that the church is formed by the pouring of the Holy Spirit on the believers as stones. That place was also the gate of heaven, signifying that the church, which is composed of the transformed saints, is not only the house of God but also the entrance leading to heaven that the earth and heaven may be in union and communication with one another. Eventually, Bethel became the hope of God’s wandering elect, who left their home and wandered about, sleeping at night in the open air, signifying that the church is the home and the hope of the roaming, wandering believers.