Well, for our scripture reading this evening, we're going back to Genesis again, and this time we're turning to Genesis 28. We'll be reading verses 10 through 22 of Genesis 28. So let us join our hearts together and read God's holy, perfect, and inspired word of God. Listen as I read. Jacob left Beersheba and went towards Haran, and he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you would lie, I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord 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. So early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and the Lord shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me, I will give a full tent to you. This ends the reading of God's word. The people of God, Jacob was running away for his life. The place that he was coming from was a death camp. Even at his birth, Jacob's life was filled with struggles. In the womb, even, there was fighting and tension between him and his brother Esau. Jacob was the heel grabber. His name actually means he takes by the heel, or he cheats. And he lived up to his name well, didn't he? We know the story of the imperfect life that he had. He ended up deceiving his brother and he stole his brother's birthright in exchange for a bowl of soup. And then we know about the story that is probably one of the greatest deceptions in the history of the Old Testament. And that is the stealing of the blessing. And because Jacob had done these things, used deception and lie, we know that his life was not without sin. And Esau, his brother, hated him on account of this. Rebekah, his mother, had said, your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. So that's the terrible place that Jacob was coming from. But he was also, when he comes to this place at Bethel, he was also running to another place that wasn't going to be easy either. He was going to his uncle Laban to find a wife. And his uncle Laban was a slave driver. He made him work for years and years for his wives. And so, we know that Jacob's life is a life filled with difficulty, with struggle. But when he comes to this desolate place in the wilderness, at Bethel. It is the place where God shows up. These surroundings were desolate and it made him, it reflected his life. But it's that place that God comes to earth. And it's that place that God makes his sanctuary among Jacob, his servant. And Jacob lays his head down and he dreams. And through that dream, Jacob sees a ladder and he experiences and he hears the voice of God himself. And God makes him promises, promises of land and offspring and personal promises, promises that I will be with you. And these promises, they teach us about who God is. That God has established his covenant with his people. And that covenant we will see comes to us as well. And today's message will focus on this. Because God has made his sanctuary to be with his people, then we should worship him. And this comes about in three major movements in today's sermon. First, the covenant is initiated in a dream. Second, the covenant is established through promises. And finally, the covenant is ultimately fulfilled. So first, the covenant is established in a dream. These are the things that Jacob saw in his dream. Jacob comes to this unnamed place. We don't know what name it is at the beginning. and the sun has set when the sun sets and you're by yourself in the ancient Israel you need to stop so he had to stop and he lays his head down uncomfortably on a rock and what he sees in this dream reveals to us the beginning of what this covenant looks like in verse 12 it says and he dreamed and behold there was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold The angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Now this dream had three visuals, three images that Jacob saw. First is a ladder. Another way of translating it is stairway. And a ladder or a stairway reminds us of something that happened in the ancient world, and that was these giant towers called ziggurats. The people would build these towers and they would build them with the hopes of reaching to the heavens. It was kind of like a divine portal that could get them up to God. It would be a many layered and tiered structure with a ladder or a stairway going right up the middle of it. And so the idea was that the people could climb that stairway and get up to the level of God. Remember, a few chapters earlier in Genesis, we have the story of Babel. And that's exactly what they were doing in Babel. They were building the city of man. They were building that city to make a name for themselves. But what they did was they distorted the creator from the creature. They were trying to ascend into that holy place that belonged only to God. They built that city of man to ascend to God's level and to make a name for themselves. We don't need God, they said. We are our own God. But in that story of Babel, God came down and he confused their language. Instead of Babel, which means the gate of the gods, now Babel just means confusion. It just means babbling voices. But Jacob's dream is the opposite. Jacob's dream, Jacob's ladder, it says that the ladder was resting on the earth. A literal translation of this would be that the ladder was placed down towards the earth. This ladder stretches down. It's an earthbound ladder. It starts from heaven and it comes to earth. This is significant because it is God who is coming down the ladder and he is establishing himself to rule on this earth and to build a kingdom here. And the second image we see is angels ascending and descending on the ladder. Now, angels are God's messengers. And the angels would symbolize divine communication between heaven and earth, the angels going up and down. And it was also a reminder to Jacob that the angels are there to guard. They're there to protect him. This provision is later reinforced by God's own word to Jacob. Because God says, I will be with you. The third image that we see is God himself standing above the ladder. Now in the ESV, it says above it. But if you look at the bottom of your Bible, there's a footnote. and an alternative way to translate it is beside him. This is two different meanings that could mean something a little bit different. If it was above it, as it says in the main body of our text, above it would show a God who is above the ladder. It's a place of authority, a place of kingly greatness where he's ruling. But I actually like the alternative translation better, and that is beside him. Because God is beside Jacob. He is there to tabernacle with him. God didn't call to Jacob. If you look at the language, it doesn't say God called from far away as if he was above the ladder. But no, he spoke. He said. And Jacob responds, surely the Lord is in this place. People of God, we too, like Jacob and all of the patriarchs, are wanderers. But we also sometimes forget that God is in our midst. Like the residents of Babel, we try to climb our own ziggurats into heaven. We try to make a name for ourselves with our sin. We rely on our own ability, on our own strengths, on our own ability to say that we're better, that our sin isn't so bad. We try to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, which I don't think is possible. But Jacob's ladder is an earthbound ladder. The God of the Bible is an initiating God who promises to come down from heaven to establish his temple with us. He is ever-present with us and he is sending those angels, those guarding protection with us. Instead of making a name for ourselves, God comes down to us and he gives us a name. And God actually makes us a pillar in his own temple. If you read from Revelation 3, verse 12, at the very end of the Bible, Jesus says that for the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God. Never shall he go out of it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God. The new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven in my own name. So this covenant is begun in a dream. But secondly, there is a covenant that is established through promise. Now children, have you ever heard stories of your parents or your grandparents of what they did when they were little? Maybe there was times of suffering and hardship and they told you those stories. Well, Jacob, he probably heard stories of suffering from his parents and grandparents too. But he also heard the stories of promises, of being faithful, of how God had come to a dream in Abraham, in Abraham's time. And now it's Jacob's turn to dream. And Jacob says that he has seen God. In verse 13, it says, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. It's interesting to notice the tone of the words that God speaks. If God came in kingly judgment, he could have come judging Jacob. He was a pretty bad person. He had done quite a few things that were bad. Jacob is a sinner. But, God comes to him in comfort and mercy. And he comes to him with unconditional promises. Remember, his forefather, Abraham, with that flaming torch between the pieces. He said, may those bodies that are cut up be like me. That's what God said. If anybody breaks this covenant, may I be cursed like those bodies that are cut. This is the God of Abraham and Isaac. This is the God of grace. The God who himself takes on those covenant curses for us. Now there's two kinds of promises in this story. There's first of all a future promise. There's promises of land and offspring. God says, The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. These are similar promises to Abraham and Isaac, aren't they? They're promises of land that your children and your offspring will be many. But think about where Jacob is in his life right now. Jacob didn't even have a wife at this point. Imagine Abraham, Abraham and Sarah in their old age, God came to them and God promised that they would have a child. But Jacob isn't even married. Jacob is in a harder spot in some ways than Abraham was. But God comes to him and promises that you will have offspring. And he also promises him land. Now land is a very important idea to Israel. As we saw this morning about entering the Sabbath rest in the Sabbath land. Land was very important and it was a promise that God would provide for his people. The patriarchs wandered from place to place, but they would one day be at rest. And as Jacob is at this place, he leaves to go with his uncle Laban and he vows to come back to that same place, which was the promised land. This is not only future promises of land and offspring, but it's also a present promise, a personal promise. God says, Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. See, God has come down that ladder to dwell on earth, to be with his people. And the way that Jacob responds is, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Before, at the beginning of the story, it's an unnamed city. But now we know that it's Beth-el, which means house of God. This is God's house. You know, Israel had the promise of entering rest. of a physical land, but we have a rest of entering a spiritual land. Because as Hebrews said, the promise of entering this rest still stands. Instead of wandering from religion to religion or philosophy to philosophy, we have a spiritual home in Jesus Christ. Jesus says that in my Father's house are many rooms, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also. So with the coming of Jesus Christ, the promise reached not only to Jacob's physical descendants, but it is open to all who might believe in his name. God's coming to earth was a covenant, a covenant promise to make Bethel this house of God with us. And he has prepared a room for us in that place, in that Bethel. So we have seen this covenant initiated. And we have seen the covenant established with the words of God. And finally, we read about a covenant that is fulfilled. There's an initial fulfillment of the covenant in Jacob's reaction. Look at the way that Jacob responds in verse 17. He was afraid and said, how awesome is this place? Now, we've kind of lost the idea of what awesome means. But awesome means terrible. Awesome means fearsome. You see, there's a great problem between a holy creator and us who are sinners. When we come into presence with a holy God, it instills nothing but fear. For as Isaiah said, woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips. When we come into the presence of that holy creator who is up in heaven, we need a mediator. We need a way that we can ascend into heaven and be with God. Because on our own, with our sins, we are not able to stand in his presence. So when God makes his Bethel there, Jacob responds in terror. And in verse 16 is another response. Early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on top of it. See, Jacob set up this pillar vertically, and it kind of looked like, it kind of resembled that ladder up and down. So that when he looked at the stone, he could remember that he dreamed the ladder, and he dreamed God coming down. So this stone was a memorial to God himself. And then Jacob responds with a vow of hope. The hope that God would watch over him and he would fulfill those promises that he had made to him. And that pillar would be a reminder that God had been faithful to his people. And Jacob responds to God's presence by anointing it with oil. He responds in worship. That was the immediate fulfillment of this promise. But there's a future fulfillment that will come at another time. Our text says, In you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Now Jacob's offspring, one that came from his own body, was Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ himself is the earthbound ladder. The Son of Man descended that earth-bound ladder. He descended onto the earth in His incarnation and became a man. In John 3, verse 13, it says, No one has ascended into heaven except He who has descended from heaven, the Son of Man. So in His incarnation, He descended. But also, in His suffering, He descended to the very depths of hell. And he suffered that awesome, terrible presence of God on that cross so that those covenant promises given to Jacob could be fulfilled. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So Jesus suffered the wrath and he is the way. He is the ladder from heaven to earth. And then Jesus ascended one day. and in the future, he will ascend again for the last time. And Jesus' own words link him to Jacob. In John 1, 51, Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Jesus himself was the latter. Jesus was the way that we can become into contact with that holy God in us who are sinners. I had an opportunity to go to China and I was teaching English there and I was riding on a train with my parents and there was a little compartment that had four beds. It was an overnight train. And we didn't know who was going to end up in the fourth bed with us. But it was a Chinese man that came in. And he said, hello, my name is Mr. Hu. And he actually had very good English. So we got talking with him. And it was really surprising that in his little bag, he had all these books he was reading. He was reading about Confucianism. And he was reading about Buddhism and Islam and Christianity. And he said, I don't know what to believe. Can you help me? Well, my dad said, well, I'm a pastor. And he said, oh, good. Now you can tell me about Christianity. So we stayed up all night on this train talking with this man and sharing him about Jesus who came down to earth to be with us. And we arrived in our city the next day in the city where I lived. And we invited this man to come with us to church in a few days when Sunday came. And when we got to church, there he was, waiting for us. And as he was sitting in the service, he was translating Chinese into English for us. But we were translating to him what was going on in the service. This is what is happening with the bread and the wine. This is what is going on with the assurance of pardon and with the means of grace, the preaching of the word. Later on, Mr. Who wrote an email to my dad, and he said, I have decided to follow the way of the Lord. What good news that one who didn't know God's presence before finally understood that through the means of grace, through the preaching of the word, God's presence was with him. Like Jacob, Mr. Who didn't realize that God was with him. But when we come into the presence of God in worship, we hear the voice of God. And as a result, we can make a vow to follow him, just like Mr. Who did. He made a vow to follow God. And we also, like Jacob, who made a vow to God, can do that. Our response is worship. So let us live in presence of this humble God, of this mighty God, who is ever faithful and who promises to be with his people. People of God, when you enter into worship, that is the place where God's presence is. It is the place where the gospel of Christ is proclaimed. And so you can say with Jacob, surely the Lord is in this place. And then we can respond in praise of that covenant God. The God who is the God of the earthbound ladder. So in conclusion, let us remember Jesus' promise that we will one day see heaven open and the angels ascending and descending in the Son of Man. His second coming will bring us into God's presence and let us live in fellowship of this covenant God who is ever faithful to us and who remembers his people. As I close, let me read the words of Isaiah 35. And Isaiah pictures this ladder, this earthbound ladder, as a highway. It is a highway that is with God's people. It says this, And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of Yahweh shall return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and sighing will flee away. Amen. Let us pray. O God, we thank you that you are the God of Jacob, that you are a God who comes down out of heaven and comes to tabernacle to make his temple among his people. We praise you, for you have not left us alone, But you have provided a way for us to come into heaven to be with God. And we just thank you so much for your son Jesus Christ who sacrificed that awful presence and that was able to come so that we may also come into glory. And so we praise you tonight. We thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.