January 24

10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran

11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarred there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12 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

13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am, the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou best, to thee with I give it, and to thy seed;

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and to thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whether thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place? this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el; but the name of that city was called Lur at the first.

20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and rament to put on.

21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:

22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

The vision at Beth-el may be said to have been the turning-point in the life of Jacob. Before that time he had desired the blessing of Abraham for its exalted temporalities—after it, he desired it for the sake of that which spiritually it conferred.

What was this ladder? To that the Saviour gives an interpretation, which, of course, is authoritative. In John i. 51, in evident allusion to this vision, He says, "Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." He is the way, and the truth, and the life, and no one cometh unto the Father but by Him

"When the veil is taken from our faces and we see Him, then the ground becomes consecrated ground, the stable a sacred place, the lowing of the cattle an anthem, Horeb a sanctuary, the land of Midian a holy land, our pile of stones a Beth-el."—Lyman Abbott, D. D.

This sacred story of Jacob's night at Beth-el may serve to teach us that in our darkest and most desolate moments God may be using our trouble and despondency as a means of drawing our hearts to Him. We may find Him nearest when we thought Him farthest off.

Closet Promise.—He faileth not.—Zeph. iii. 5.

Blindfolded and alone I stand With unknown thresh slits on each hand; The darkness deepens as I grope, Afraid to fear, afraid to hope; Yet this one thing I learn to know Each day more surely as I go.

That doors are opened, ways are made, Burdens are lifted or are laid, By some great law unseen and still, Unfathomed purpose to fulfil, "No: as I will!" —H. H.