I am a little behind. It’s been a busy week. I assure you I am keeping up with my Come Follow Me reading, reading my Book of Mormon, as well as reading The Book of the Bee, The Ethiopian Bible and some other apocryphal writings. I just haven’t taken the time to write about what I am learning due to over scheduling my days. I’m working on it.
I am a person who learns so much from my dreams. I’ve learned how to direct shows, how to build sets, to write books, to illustrate books and stuff like that, all in my dreams. But the most important things God teaches me in my dreams are gospel principles and a greater understanding of His perfect Plan for His children. I would think I am crazy, but many others have recorded what they have learned in dreams from the Lord. I’m in good company. This past week we learned of Jacob’s dream.
In Jacob’s dream, he saw a ladder that stretched from the earth into heaven. Angels were traveling up and down the ladder as if they were delivering things to and from God who stood at the top of the ladder. God identified Himself to Jacob and gifted Jacob an endowment, a covenant promise, the same covenant God had given Jacob’s ancestors. He also promised to be with Jacob wherever he might go (Genesis 28:10-15.)
Earlier, a group of people built a tower to get to heaven. This project did not end well. It ended in contention, confusion and was eventually abandoned. Jacob’s dream was different. There was no man-made tower. This was a ladder, a ladder that indicated that God had prepared a way for His children to reach Him. With angels coming and going, Jacob learned that God does not leave us alone. God sends heavenly helpers to guide us, instruct us, lift us, and who meet us where we are and then walk with us along the path of ascension.
I read in The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel – you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.”
From this teaching I learn a couple things. First, I need to take things one step at time – that whole line upon line thing. Second, God’s Plan is that everyone who chooses the ladder will be given what they need – including time – to succeed. Third, no matter what, I will not learn it all here. It “is not all to be comprehended in this world.” This is actually comforting. I understand that I need to work at understanding and comprehension, but that God knows that there will be more to learn and a place to learn it after this existence. This knowlwdge calms my soul a bit.
Back to the ladder.
In March of 1971, President Marion G. Romney taught that the rungs on the ladder were covenants. He said, “When Jacob traveled to Beersheba toward Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot of a ladder that reached into heaven where the Lord stood above it. He beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings – blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord… Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob.”
Like Jacob, I’ve made covenants with God that are a security to me as walk the path towards living in His presence. Staying on the covenant path is not the easiest thing to do. I am weak. The voices in the world around me are loud and convincing. As a human, my fallen nature makes me imperfect, but God promises that if I stay on the ladder, I am still moving in the right direction. The goal is within my reach, within my capabilities. It’s personal. It is both a progression and promise.
I see hope in the symbol of the ladder. It wasn’t a giant leap across a vast distance. God provided a tool to traverse the distance. I find hope in the symbol of the angels. They were going up and down. No matter where they were on the ladder, no matter which direction they were heading, they were still angels. They were disciples of Jesus Christ doing His will and serving Him. I am one of those angels! I belong on the ladder. God guides my journey on the ladder. My family belongs on the ladder. Their journey is guided by God as well. We all have a place. Whether we are moving up or moving down, the important thing is that we cling to the ladder.
“Our Heavenly Father loves each one of us and understands that this process of climbing higher takes preparation, time, and commitment. He understands that we will make mistakes at times, that we will stumble, that we will become discouraged and perhaps even wish to give up and say to ourselves it is not worth the struggle.
We know it is worth the effort, for the prize, which is eternal life, is “the greatest of all the gifts of God.” D&C 14:7
And to qualify, we must take one step after another and keep going to gain the spiritual heights we aspire to reach.
An eternal principle is revealed in holy writ: “It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize.” Mosiah 4:27
We don’t have to be fast; we simply have to be steady and move in the right direction. We have to do the best we can, one step after another.”
Joseph B. Wirthlin, “One Step after Another,” Liahona, Jan 2002, 27–30
When God made covenants with Jacob in that dream, He gave Jacob everything he needed to be successful. God showed him the ladder, the path, and the purpose, and then gave him the promises of eternity. He does the same for each of us as we dedicate ourselves and our lives to Him and make our own covenants with God.
Lehi had a similar dream. In both dreams, God reveals the way for people to return to his presence. Jacob saw a ladder with angels moving up and down, Lehi saw a straight and narrow path next to an iron rod. Nephi explained that the first step,on to the path was baptism (2 Nephi 31:17-18). President Nelson expanded on that interpretation, equating the steps on the path with temple covenants, “ Nothing will help you more to hold to the iron rod than worship[ing in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permits. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness… Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing! (April 2024).
After waking from his dream Jacob built an altar and named the place Beth-el, which means “house of God” (Genesis 28:16-19).
And we are back to the temple.
Jacob’s dream is a hope filled dream. It reminds me that we all have our own path to follow. We all have a place on the ladder. God provides all that we need to be successful. It is a sweet reminder that if I cling to the ladder and ask God to guide me- no matter where I am on that ladder – He will be with me. He will be with my family.
Today, I recommit myself to walking the covenant path God has prepared for my ascent into His presence. I commit to clinging to the ladder – and I may be looking for ways to “clip” in because the wind is picking up and threatens to knock people off the ladder. I will remember that His invitation is to climb, to trust Him.
Hmmm. Perhaps I will start seeing the ladder as the Savior Himself. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the plan.
Resigning as the General Manager of the Universe 