John Calvin Commentary Genesis 28:18

"And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it." — Genesis 28:18 (ASV)

And Jacob rose up early. Moses relates that the holy father was not satisfied with merely giving thanks at the time, but would also transmit a memorial of his gratitude to posterity. Therefore he raised a monument, and gave a name to the place, which implied that he thought such a significant benefit of God worthy to be celebrated in all ages. For this reason, the Scripture not only commands the faithful to sing the praises of God among their fellow believers; but also instructs them to train their children in religious duties, and to pass on the worship of God among their descendants.

And set it up for a pillar. Moses does not mean that the stone was made an idol, but that it should be a special memorial. God indeed uses this word מצבה (matsbah), when he forbids statues to be erected to himself (Leviticus 26:1), because almost all statues were objects of veneration, as if they were likenesses of God.

But Jacob’s design was different; namely, that he might leave a testimony of the vision which had appeared to him, not that he would represent God by that symbol or figure. Therefore the stone was not placed there by him for the purpose of leading people’s minds into any crude superstition, but rather of lifting them upward.

He used oil as a sign of consecration, and not without reason; for as, in the world, everything is profane which is lacking the Spirit of God, so there is no pure religion except that which the heavenly unction sanctifies. And the solemn rite of consecration, which God commanded in his law, points to this: that the faithful may learn to bring nothing of their own, so that they do not pollute the temple and worship of God.

And although, in Jacob’s time, no teaching had yet been committed to writing, it is nevertheless certain that he had been imbued with that principle of piety which God from the beginning had infused into the hearts of the devout. Therefore, it is not to be attributed to superstition that he poured oil upon the stone; but he rather testified, as I have said, that no worship can be acceptable to God, or pure, without the sanctification of the Spirit.

Other commentators argue, more subtly, that the stone was a symbol of Christ, on whom all the graces of the Spirit were poured out, so that all might draw from his fullness; but I do not know that any such thing entered the mind of Moses or of Jacob.

I am satisfied with what I have stated before: that a stone was erected to be a witness or a memorial (so to speak) of a vision, the benefit of which reaches to all ages. It may be asked, from where did the holy man obtain oil in the desert? Those who answer that it had been brought from a neighboring city are, in my opinion, greatly deceived, for this place was then uninhabited, as I will soon show.

I therefore conjecture, rather, that because of the necessities of the times, since suitable provisions could not always be obtained, he had taken some food with him for his journey. And as we know that oil was widely used in those regions, it is no wonder if he carried a flask of oil with his bread.