In Genesis 28:12, Jacob has a vision of the heavens open, as we read:

וַיַּחֲלֹם, וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה, וְרֹאשׁוֹ, מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה; וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים, עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ

“And he dreamed; and a ladder was set up on the earth; and the top of it reached the heavens, and behold, the angels of God ascended and descended on it.”

In John 1:51 Messiah references this dream, and identifies Himself as the ladder.

What is the message here? Why the word order of ascending and descending? Wouldn’t it make sense to reverse the order?

The message is rather simple, but profound. Ascending spiritually is relatively easy; coming back down, is another story. The desire would be to stay in that heavenly dimension, free from the distractions of natural life, remaining in the presence of God.

Yet, that is the point. We ascend to the heights of heaven in order to bring the fruit of that journey back to the natural world, so that others will taste and see that He is good (Ps. 34:8).

Biblical faith is not meant to be a cloistered enterprise untroubled by the turbulence of life; but rather, walking upon life’s turbulence in faith with Messiah, the Ladder.

So we go up, in order to come back down; and we do so in Yeshua.

Be well. Shalom.