Jacob's Staircase
Abraham's grandson, Jacob, had to flee from home after playing a mean-spirited trick on his brother Esau one too many times. One night, during his flight, Jacob had a dream. In spite of the camp songs many of us know, what Jacob saw was not a ladder, but a wide staircase or possibly a ramp linking heaven and earth. Divine beings moved up and down carrying messages. The staircase was the communication link between the world of the gods and of humans.
The cloud that completely surrounds the staircase marks it off as part of the divine world. The artist represents God by the cloud, located above the staircase and over Jacob. The stone at Jacob's head serves as the foundation for the staircase.
Although Abraham and Sarah had only one son and Isaac had only two, Jacob will have many. Thus the question mark formation of the twelve stars is beginning to disperse, symbolic of the renewal of the promise. The sun and the moon remind us of Joseph's dream in the next generation.