And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven ... And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said ... the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. Genesis 28:12, 13.
The ladder is the medium of communication between God and the human race. Through the mystic ladder the gospel was preached to Jacob. As the ladder stretched from earth, reaching to the highest heavens, and the glory of God was seen above the ladder, so Christ in His divine nature reached immensity and was one with the Father. As the ladder, though its top penetrated into heaven, had its base upon the earth, so Christ, though [He was] God, clothed His divinity with humanity and was in the world “found in fashion as a man.” The ladder would be useless if it rested not on the earth or if it reached not to the heavens.
God appeared in glory above the ladder, looking down with compassion on erring, sinful Jacob, addressing to him words of encouragement. It is through Christ that the Father beholds sinful human beings. The ministering angels were communicating to the inhabitants of the earth through the medium of the ladder. The only way that people can be saved is by clinging to Christ.
We ascend to heaven by climbing the ladder—the whole height of Christ's work—step by step. There must be a holding fast to Christ, a climbing up by the merits of Christ. To let go is to cease to climb, to fall, to perish....
The question with men and women gazing heavenward is How can I obtain the mansions for the blessed? It is by being a partaker of the divine nature. It is by escaping the “corruption that is in the world through lust.” It is by entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, laying hold of the hope set before you in the gospel.... It is by being in Christ and yet led by Christ, by believing and working—trusting in Jesus, yet working upon the plan of addition, holding on to Christ and constantly mounting upward toward God....
We point you to the mansions Christ is preparing for all those who love Him. We point you to that city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.... Climb step by step, and you will reach God above the ladder and the Holy City of God. None who will resolutely mount up on the ladder will fail of everlasting life. “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”—Manuscript 13, 1884 (Manuscript Releases 19:353-355).
From Christ Triumphant - Page 88
Christ Triumphant