Here we have, indeed, "grace and glory." The ladder "set _on the earth_" naturally leads the heart to meditate on the display of God's grace, in the Person and work of his Son. On the earth it was that the wondrous work was accomplished which forms the basis, the strong and everlasting basis, of all the divine counsels in reference to Israel, the Church, and the world at large. On the earth it was that Jesus lived, labored, and died; that through his death he might remove out of the way every obstacle to the accomplishment of the divine purpose of blessing to man.
But "the top of the ladder reached to heaven." It formed the medium of communication between heaven and earth; and "behold the angels of God ascending and descending upon it,"--striking and beautiful picture of him by whom God has come down into all the depth of man's need, and by whom also he has brought man up and set him in his own presence forever, in the power of divine righteousness! God has made provision for the accomplishment of all his plans, despite of man's folly and sin; and it is for the everlasting joy of any soul to find itself, by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, within the limits of God's gracious purpose.
The prophet Hosea leads us on to the time when that which was foreshadowed by Jacob's ladder shall have its full accomplishment. "And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow, and the sword, and the battle, out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies; I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." (Hosea ii. 18-23.) There is also an expression in the first chapter of John, bearing upon Jacob's remarkable vision; it is Christ's word to Nathanael, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." (Ver. 51.)
Now, this vision of Jacob's is a very blessed disclosure of divine grace to Israel. We have been led to see something of Jacob's real character, something, too, of his real condition; both were evidently such as to show that it should either be divine grace for him, or nothing. By birth he had no claim; nor yet by character. Esau might put forward some claim on both these grounds; i. e., provided God's prerogative were set aside; but Jacob had no claim whatsoever; and hence, while Esau could only stand upon the exclusion of God's prerogative, Jacob could only stand upon the introduction and establishment thereof. Jacob was such a sinner, and so utterly divested of all claim, both by birth and by practice, that he had nothing whatever to rest upon save God's purpose of pure, free, and sovereign grace. Hence, in the revelation which the Lord makes to his chosen servant, in the passage just quoted, it is a simple record or prediction of what he himself would yet do. "_I_ am.... _I_ will give.... _I_ will keep.... _I_ will bring.... _I_ will not leave thee until _I_ have done that which _I_ have spoken to thee of." It was all himself. There is no condition whatever. No _if_ or _but_; for when _grace_ acts there can be no such thing. Where there is an _if_, it cannot possibly be grace. Not that God cannot put man into a position of responsibility in which he must needs address him with an "if." We know he can; but Jacob asleep on a pillow of stone was not in a position of responsibility, but of the deepest helplessness and need; and therefore he was in a position to receive a revelation of the fullest, richest, and most unconditional grace.
Now, we cannot but own the blessedness of being in such a condition that we have nothing to rest upon save God himself; and, moreover, that it is in the most perfect establishment of God's own character and prerogative that we obtain all our true joy and blessing. According to this principle, it would be an irreparable loss to us to have any ground of our own to stand upon, for in that case God should address us on the ground of responsibility, and failure would then be inevitable. Jacob was so bad, that none but God himself could do for him.