_EVERYWHERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN_
"_Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not._"
--GENESIS xxviii. 10-22.
That is the first time for many a day that Jacob had named the name of
God. In all the dark story of his wicked intrigue the name of God is never
mentioned. Jacob wanted to forget God! God would be a disturbing presence!
But here he encounters Him in a dream, and in the most unlikely place.
"And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!"
Jacob had yet to learn that there is everywhere "a ladder set up on the
earth and the top of it reaches to heaven." There was a ladder from the
very tent in which he wore his deceptive skin. There was a ladder from the
secret place where he and his mother wove their mischievous plot. There is
no corner of earth which is cut away from the Divine vigilance. God gets
at us everywhere.
But there is a merciful side to all this. If the ladder be everywhere, and
God can get at us, then also everywhere we can get at God. There are
"ascending angels" who will carry our confessions, our prayers, our sighs
and mournings, to the very heart of the eternally gracious God.