The LORD told Ja'cob that the whole land of Ca'naan should belong to his descendants, who could no more be counted than the dust of the ground. It was promised that in his children all the families of the earth should be blessed, and Ja'cob was assured that the LORD would guide and protect him in the journey just ahead. It was also promised that in due time he should be permitted to return to the land of Ca'naan, and that the property left him by his father I'saac would come to him as soon as he was worthy to receive it.
When Ja'cob awoke the next morning he exclaimed with unspeakable joy, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not. I thought that God had completely forsaken me, but now He has appeared before my very eyes. Since He has promised to give me bread to eat, to protect me wherever I go, and to bring me back safely to my father's house, I will worship Him alone. Of all that the LORD shall give me in worldly things I will surely return one-tenth unto Him." Ja'cob then anointed a stone as an altar, and lifted up his heart to God in worship.
While thinking about the meaning of the wonderful vision Ja'cob realized that the great distance which sin had put between him and the LORD was now wiped out by God's mercy. There was now an open way of communication between God and man, and over it the Angels of mercy came down to bless earth, then returned to Heaven bearing the prayers and thankful praises of the Saints. The vision also taught him that the light of Heaven brings comfort and assurance to even the darkest ways of life.
