How it works
The Bible tells of a night when Jacob slept outside with a stone for a pillow. He was walking north to his uncle Laban in Haran, because Esau was angry and his mother Rebekah had told him to go.
In a dream he saw a great ladder, a stairway of soft light, reaching up to heaven. God's messengers went up and down it.
God promised to be with Jacob wherever he went, and to bring him back.
In the morning Jacob stood the stone up, poured oil on it and named the place Bethel, which means house of God.