So Where is Christ

Jacob was elected by God to be the anointed son, so Jacob chose the birthright of Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, the father of our faith. He did not choose it based on his righteousness; he chose it based on its value to him. He didn't gain it because he was good but because he was willing to deal for it. If he had to, Jacob would have paid Esau much more to obtain it. It was that valuable to him, and Esau would have sold it because it meant so little to him. How many people disregard Christ because He does not seem to be something of profit to them. Esau wanted the tangible, something he could feel, taste, use for his good. Jacob wanted something else. We are to be like Jacob, like the man who found the pearl of great price and went and sold all he had in order to buy it.

Jacob was sent from his home because he was persecuted by his brother, who was jealous of his blessing. Living without a place to lay his head, he dreams a vision of a ladder going up to heaven with the angels of God going up and down upon it. Thus in his affliction, he had a vision of Christ Himself. See John 1:51. Let us not avoid persecution, rejection, the affliction of being blessed by God but attacked by men. It may lead to a vision of Christ, something that cannot help but encourage, strengthen and enlighten for the rest of the journey, as it did Jacob.