Jacob's ladder

Genesis Chapter 28

Jacob leaves home heading for his uncle Laban ostensibly to find a wife, though mostly to avoid getting horribly killed by Esau

Jacob travels as far as Bethel where he stops because it is dark. 

To my mind this explains a lot about Jacob’s state of mind here – he is running from his brother and only stops because he can no longer see where he is going. 

The fact that he uses a stone as a pillow suggests that he is travelling extremely light as stones are not really comfortable!

Jacob seems to be basically at his wits end, he is alone, its dark, he has only the clothes on his back, yet somehow Jacob manages to fall asleep and has a dream where God appears to him at the top of a ladder with angels running up and down.

God appears and identifies himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac and explains that Jacob has a destiny and that God will not leave him until he returns to his family holdings

Jacob decides that if God makes good, he will only worship God, and he promises to give to God 10% of all God gives him.

For me, the best thing about this chapter is that God can meet us when we are at our lowest point - even if we are not seeking him, let alone expecting him.