And he arrived at the place and lodged there because the sun had set, and he lay down in that place…and behold! a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached to heaven; and behold, angels of G‑d were ascending and descending upon it. (Genesis 28: 11-12)

Jacob's dream of the ladder, with angels going up down, is the first dream recorded in the bible. In Judaism, dreams are a way in which G‑d communicates with man. The painting reflects the midrash that describes how the angels in Jacob's dream were dancing, leaping and arguing above his sleeping body. The swirling strokes of color on the ladder are suggestive of angels ascending and then coming down to imbue the world with luminosity and vitality. Classically, this dream is interpreted as the elevation of the angels that accompanied Jacob in the land of Israel and the descent of the angels that would accompany him on his journeys outside of Israel.

Painted on two canvases, the ladder descends, moving onto the lower canvas, suggesting the upper realms coming down to earth. There is a play between the vertical movement of the ladder and the horizontal body of Jacob, which looks like it is one with the earth on which he lies. Jacob's serene blue face seems to be ascending up into the heavenly sphere in which the ladder can also be seen as a symbol of movement of prayer, from below to above. In his dream, Jacob transcends both space and time, to have a direct encounter with G‑d. The painting is filled with the aura of this sublime experience.