a. Overwhelmed. Jacob wakes up and realizes what just happened. He says, “Surely Yahweh is in this place and I did not know it.” Jacob confesses the ignorance of the presence of God in his life. Jacob should have known that God was with him, but he is hit upside the head with a spiritual 2×4 here. This God of his fathers is not just present when you seek him and not just present when things are going well but he is present when you are wandering alone. This God appears after you’ve lied your face off. Jacob blurts out, “How awesome is the place!” He calls the place the house of God or Beth-el. Then he says something interesting. This is the gate of heaven. Remember what the people were trying to do in Genesis 11. The people were trying to build the gate to heaven and make a name for themselves, but God intervened and confused their languages. Jacob was trying to make a name for himself. Jacob could not make his own gate to heaven. God would come down to him. God would make the staircase between heaven and earth. b. Worship. When light comes, Jacob takes the stone that he had been sleeping on and sets it up for a memorial pillar, and poured oil on it. He takes the rock that he slept on and makes it into a monument to this amazing event. This is the proper response to what has happened. He needs to remember this moment when the going gets tough. In fact, later on in his life, God will point Jacob back to the fact that he set up this pillar at Bethel. He will say I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar. c. Vow. After Jacob worships God he makes a vow to God. He says that he will give a full tenth back to God all that God gives him. He acknowledges that if he gets anything then it is coming from God. But if you look at what he says in 20-21 there seem to be some conditions on this vow. Basically, what Jacob is saying here is if you do exactly what you promised to do, if you act as El-Shaddai, the Almighty, and are faithful to your promises then Yahweh will be my God. There is a sense of doubt seeking assurance in Jacob’s words. There is an awakening desire but yet there is a fear to trust. God has a lot of work left to do in the heart of Jacob, but in the end, God will get his man.