Jacob’s ladder

Jacob's Ladder

Jacob’s ladder represents the blessings of God descending from heaven. The dream assured Jacob that despite his deceit he was the corridor of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. Jesus later used this same description of the ladder from Jacob’s dream to convey to Nathaniel and the others who were there that the blessed works of God would be done through Him and thereby prove that He was the Messiah: “Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus said, ‘You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.’ He then added, ‘I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’ ” (John 1:49–51).
Today, “climbing Jacob’s ladder” is sometimes used to denote someone who is “climbing the ladder of success,” which is also an expression derived from the scriptural account of Jacob’s dream.
Jacob’s ladder is also used today as a name for a nautical rope or chain ladder with rigid rungs. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Jacob’s ladder is also: “Any of various plants of the genus Polemonium, especially Pcaeruleum, having blue flowers and alternate, pinnately compound leaves with numerous leaflets.” Certainly Jacob never dreamed that his ladder would someday be used as a name for flowering plants.


Freeman, James M., and Harold J. Chadwick. Manners & Customs of the Bible. North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998. Print.