When All Seems Hopeless, Look for Heaven's Ladder, March 20

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. Genesis 28:16. The angels of God were ascending and descending upon this mystic ladder, and when he [Jacob] awoke he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” Thus it is with us. If our eyes could be opened, we would see the angels of God all around us, and the evil angels are here also, trying to destroy us, but the good angels are pressing them back. Jacob thought to gain a right to the birthright through deception, but he found himself disappointed. He thought he had lost everything, his connection with God, his home and all; and there he was a disappointed fugitive. But what did God do? He looked upon him in his hopeless condition, He saw his disappointment, and He saw there was material there that would render back glory to God. No sooner does He see his condition than He presents the mystic ladder, which represents Jesus Christ. Here is a man who had lost all connection with God, and the God of heaven looks upon him and consents that Christ shall bridge the gulf that sin has made. We might have looked and said, I long for heaven, but how can I reach it? I see no way. That is what Jacob thought, and so God shows him the vision of the ladder, and that ladder connects earth with heaven, with Jesus Christ. A person can climb it, for the base rests upon the earth and the top-most round reaches into heaven. Then the soul climbs right away from the customs, practices, and fashions of earth right towards heaven. The light and glory of God are upon every round of this mystic ladder, and men and women climb upon whom? Jesus Christ. Cling to what? Jesus Christ. Made one with whom? Jesus Christ.... Now we find that the battlements can be reached, that God is above the ladder and is waiting with arms outstretched to help every soul who will come into the everlasting kingdom of our God. Praise His holy name! Ye inhabitants of the earth, praise Him! And why? Because through Jesus Christ—whose long human arm encircles the race while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Almighty—the gulf is bridged with His own body; and this atom of a world, which was separated from the continent of heaven by sin and became an island, is again reinstated because Christ bridged the gulf—Christ has bridged it! Here is a soul in danger; well, God stands ready to help that soul. All the heavenly angels will be sent to assist that soul.—Manuscript 5, 1891.