Bible Questions and Answers

In Genesis 28:17, what is the meaning of 'gates of heaven'? Why is Bethel referred to as 'the house of God'?

Genesis 28:10 -17 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 "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 spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And 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!"

In Hebrew 'Beth-el' literally means ‘house of God’. It was a place known to Abraham. Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3

In Jacob’s dream he sees a stairway, and angels ascending and descending upon it. He attributes his dream to the place and describes it as the ‘gate of heaven’. We are given no other information, but I am not inclined to think that heaven has ’gates’ or that angels need stairs. God is everywhere present by his Spirit. The import of the dream is that God is repeating the promises he made to Abraham to his grandson Jacob. Jacob thus has access to God through the ministration of angels. Genesis 48:16

I hope you find this helpful.

God bless,
Glenn