¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely The LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” ~Genesis 28.16-17 ESV

Jacob’s dream is still running…

When we meet and worship with the saints in the assembled ‘household of God, which is the church of the living God (1 Timothy 3.15)¹’ and ‘a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2.22)²’ we are as close to Heaven as we will ever be…this side of Heaven itself.

When we worship in the gathered assembly, we are ‘rehearsing’ for the consummate, eternal, general assembly of Revelation 7.9-12³.

We enjoy foretastes of the joys and raptures to come!

¹ 1 Timothy 3.15 LSB / …I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

² Ephesians 2.19-22 ESV / So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

³ Revelation 7.9-12 LSB / After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; ¹⁰ and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”