John Calvin Commentary Genesis 46:2

"And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I." — Genesis 46:2 (ASV)

And God spake unto Israel. In this manner, God proves that Jacob’s sacrifice was acceptable to Him, and He again stretches out His hand to ratify His covenant anew. The vision by night served to give greater dignity to the oracle. Indeed, Jacob, since he was teachable and ready to yield obedience to God, did not need to be driven by force and terror. Yet, because he was a man encompassed with flesh, it was beneficial for him to be affected as with the glory of a present God, so that the word might penetrate more effectively into his heart.

It is, however, fitting to recall what I have said before: that the word was joined with it, because a silent vision would have benefited little or nothing. We know that superstition eagerly snatches at mere apparitions, by which means it presents God in a form of its own making.

But since no living image of God can exist without the word, whenever God has appeared to His servants, He has also spoken to them. Therefore, in all outward signs, let us be ever attentive to His voice, if we are not to be deluded by the schemes of Satan. But if those visions, in which the majesty of God shines, require to be animated by the word, then those who impose signs—invented at the will of men—upon the Church exhibit nothing but the empty spectacles of a secular theater. Just as in the Papacy, those things which are called sacraments are lifeless illusions that lead deceived souls away from the true God.

Let this mutual connection, then, be observed: that the vision which gives greater dignity to the word precedes it, and the word follows immediately, as if it were the soul of the vision. And it is certain that this was an appearance of the visible glory of God, which did not leave Jacob in suspense and hesitation but, by removing his doubt, firmly sustained him, so that he confidently embraced the oracle.