I
wish I could have been there to see Jacob’s face. He must have been dismayed and disappointed at his surroundings. Here he was, one of the favored sons of Isaac, the blessed son of his grandfather Abraham, and yet he was in the middle of nowhere, all alone. He was on the run from his older brother Esau who was out to kill him for stealing his birthright. He’d left Beer-sheba with probably nothing more than the clothes on his back and a nod of approval from his beloved mother Rebekah. His only present glimmer of hope and excitement came when he considered the possibility of finding a wife when he arrived at his uncle Laban’s house in Haran. But now, he was simply on the journey—between the comforts of home and an uncertain yet hopeful future. I wish I could have been there to see him when “ he came to a certain place and lay down because the sun had set” (Gen 28:10). I can only imagine him looking around in dismay at his accommodations. The hot, eastern sun was leaving its last footprints on the sky, and the road for his travel was