Gen 28:11-17

Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.“Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” NASU

The word place is “maqom” in Hebrew Strong’s (4725) Click here. Jacob identifies this place in verse 17 as the house of God and the gate of heaven. He also names the place Bethel which means the House of God found in verse 18. What is the significance of this place? Well, this place is where intimacy is revealed! Jacob, after finding this place (laid down), laid down, Strong’s (7901) Click here., means to have a intimate connection with. It is not the same word for sleep used in verse 16 , Strong’s (8142) Click here. , “shehah”, meaning to sleep. The word is used in Genesis 19:32 when Lot’s daughters said, “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie (Strong’s 7901) with him, that we may preserve seed of our father” (KJV).

Notice that this place happened on earth. We should expect to have an intimate encounter with God here and now because we are in a covenant relationship with Him that is a marriage covenant and are called by Him to be the “Bride of Christ”. David asked, “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place (Ps 24:3)? This place according to Jacob is the place he encountered God intimately saying; “Surely the LORD is in this place and I did not know it”, verse 16. The word “know” is “yada” Strong’s (3045) Click here. which means to know intimately. Jacob did not “Know” he was the “bride of Christ” until he had met God in that place were intimacy was revealed. “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells (Ps 46:4 NIV). This river is the Holy Spirit who makes known the intimacy of God. (John 7:38).