‘And he said, “Let me go for the day is breaking.” And he said, “I will not let you go except you bless me.”
“The day is breaking.” The exertions that are possible at night become unbearable during the day. God is not thinking of Himself but of Jacob. But Jacob continues to hold on even though crippled and exhausted so that God finally says, ‘Let me go.' But He says it, not because He wants to be released, but because He knows what Jacob will reply. His purpose in being here is finally to strengthen and bless Jacob.
“I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Jacob is clinging on because he wants with all his being the blessing of God, not just as a ‘blessing' but as a life-changing experience. He is deeply aware that he has been face to face with God in the closest of encounters, and now he wants it to impact fully on his future life. He will not rest until he is sure that his future is secure in God's hands, until God guarantees that future. God has come to him in a deeply personal way and he does not want to rest until he has obtained the full benefit of what God has brought.