And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Ver. 12. Behold a ladder.] Scala est, piorum in hoc mundo peregrinatio, saith Pareus, after Junius. But besides this interpretation, our Saviour offereth us another, Joh 1:51 applying it to himself, the true ladder of life, per quem solum in coelum ascendere possimus. He that will go up any other way must, as the emperor once said, erect a ladder and go up alone. He touched heaven, in respect of his Deity; earth, in respect of his humanity; and joined earth to heaven, by reconciling man to God. Gregory speaks elegantly of Christ, γεφυρωσας, that he joined heaven and earth together, as with a bridge; being the only true Pontifex, or bridge-maker. Heaven is now open and obvious, to them that acknowledge him their sole Mediator, and lay hold, by the hand of faith, on his merits, as the rungs of this heavenly ladder: these only ascend; that is, their consciences are drawn out of the depths of despair, and put into heaven, as it were, by pardon, and peace with God, rest sweetly in his bosom, calling him, Abba, Father, and have the holy angels ascending to report their needs, and descending, as messengers of mercies. We must also ascend, saith St Bernard, by those two feet, as it were, - meditation and prayer: yea, there must be continual ascensions in our hearts, as that martyr a said: and as Jacob saw the angels ascending, and descending, and none standing still; so must we be active, and abundant in God's work, "as knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord": 1Co 15:58 and that, non proficere est deficere, b not to go forward is to go backward.
a M. Philpot.
b Bern.