Genesis 32:1 - Meaning and Application

Jacob had now safely got away from Laban and was on his way home to Canaan. When God has brought us through trouble, we should keep going toward heaven with even more cheerfulness and strength. After help from God, we should trust him and move forward.

Here is the protection Jacob had on his journey: the angels of God met him in a visible way, though we are not told whether this was in a daytime vision or a dream at night, as it had been when he saw them on the ladder (Genesis 28:12). Those who keep to God’s path always have God’s protection around them. Angels are serving spirits, sent to help and protect God’s people (Hebrews 1:14). Wherever Jacob pitched his tents, they pitched theirs around him too (Psalm 34:7).

These angels met Jacob to welcome him back to Canaan. This was a far more honorable reception than any prince receives from a city’s officials. They also came to rejoice over his safe return from Laban, because they take pleasure in the good of God’s servants. They had been with him all along in secret, but now they appeared because greater dangers still lay ahead of him than those he had already faced.

When God is preparing his people for special trials, he often gives them special comforts first. We might think it would have been more fitting for the angels to appear when Jacob was troubled by Laban, and then by Esau, rather than during this quiet time. But God wants us, when things are calm, to make ready for hard times, and when trouble comes, to lean on what he has already done for us. We walk by faith, not by sight.

God’s people, at death, are returning to Canaan, to their Father’s house. Then the angels of God will meet them, rejoice over the end of their service, and bring them to their rest.

Jacob understood this convoy well. He said, “This is God’s host.” It was a strong host, so Jacob was both a great man and a safe one, because he was guarded in this way. And God must get the credit for this protection, because this was his host. By faith, a good person can see what Jacob saw with his eyes, believing the promise that God will give his angels charge over us (Psalm 91:11). There is no need to argue about whether each believer has one guardian angel, when we know that a whole guard of angels surrounds God’s people.

To keep the memory of this blessing, Jacob named the place Mahanaim, which means “two camps” or “two hosts.” Some rabbis said one host was the guardian angels from Mesopotamia who had guided Jacob, and the other was the angels of Canaan who met him there. More likely, the angels appeared as two companies, one on each side, or one in front and one behind, to protect him from Laban behind and Esau before. So Jacob was fully guarded by God’s favor.

This may also point ahead to the church, which is called Mahanaim, “two armies” (Song of Songs 6:13). Jacob’s family was one army, like the church on earth, traveling and struggling. The angels were the other army, like the church in heaven, triumphant and at rest.