John 1:51

And he (Yeshua) said to him (Nathaniel), "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jacob flees from the face of his brother Esau. The blessing he thought to receive turned into a curse where he now has to leave the Promised Land not knowing if he would ever return. On his way to Paddan-aram the patriarch makes a stopover for the night, he gathers a stone to use as a pillow and falls asleep.

During the night Jacob makes a strange dream. He sees a ladder with angels descending and ascending upon him (the Hebrew text says the angles ascended and descended upon Jacob), angels leaving the Heavens and returning. The message was clear: as Jacob left the Land, he would also return. The Lord stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring 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" (Genesis 28:13-15). With these words Jacob is comforted and dedicates himself again to the Lord (Genesis 28:20-22).

This story constitutes for us the main elements of Jacob’s resume as a patriarch for the House of Israel, as the leader of the people. It is God’s irrefutable and undeniable endorsement of Jacob which has been fulfilled through the years. From Laban’s, Jacob returned rich to the Land where the same angels welcomed him (Genesis 32:1).

When Yeshua met Nathaniel, He introduce Himself making allusion to this story. He told Nathanael in essence that, ‘from where I came from, you will see Me return’. That fact was to be the proof of Yeshua’s Messianic claim, the sign by which all sincere Israelites with no deceit like Nathaniel should recognize Him (John 1:47).

Yeshua mentioned seeing Nathanael under the fig tree. Fig trees speak of the coming age called the Millennium (Micah 4:4) and were often used by people as the preferred place to pray and meditate.

As Nathaniel was, may we at His appearing also be found praying and watching (Luke 21:36) with sincere hearts and with no deceit in our mouth.