How Jacob's Dream and Jesus' Cross Reveal God's Presence in Everyday Life

Key Scriptures

Genesis 28:12-13

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

Matthew 27:50-51

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.

Reflection

Jacob was running-alone, guilty, and uncertain, when he stopped for the night at a nameless patch of ground. There, with a stone for a pillow, he encountered the God of heaven. In a dream he saw a ladder (as a stairway) joining earth to heaven, with angels traveling back and forth and the Lord speaking promises over his life.

Centuries later, when Jesus died on the cross, the heavy temple veil tore from top to bottom. That curtain had symbolically blocked human access to God’s holy presence. Its tearing proclaims that heaven’s stairway is now permanently open, no longer a dream but a living reality through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

1. Jacob’s ordinary campsite became “Bethel”, “House of God.”
2. The cross turned a place of execution into the doorway of salvation
3. Your workplace, kitchen, bedroom, or even a hospital bed can also become holy ground. God shows up in places we least expect, turning running roads into revelation sites.

Jesus is the true ladder (John 1:51). Through Him, heaven touches earth every moment the children of God call on his name. Our task is to awaken to that presence in daily life, seeing divine activity in errands, conversations, and even in crisis.

Application

1. Expect God in the ordinary. Start each day asking, “Lord, open my eyes to Your presence right here.”
2. Name your Bethel. When God meets you, in a prayer, a song, a conversation, mark that spot as holy ground.
3. Live Veil-torn lives. Because access is permanently open to all, return to God quickly: confess, receive Grace, ask reverently, and intercede for others.

Prayer

Father,

Thank You for opening heaven to me through Jesus. Teach me to see Your angels at work, Your promises spoken, and Your presence surrounding my ordinary days. Let every place I stand become a Bethel, and may my life invite others to climb the ladder of grace found in Christ alone.

In Jesus name,

Amen.