The Dark Night Of Sin: A Literary Analysis

Within various writings, a Godly erotic theme may be obscurely witnessed, as in the story concerning “Jacob’s ladder;” tells of a ladder to heaven, where Jacob encounter’s God. Described in the book of Genesis, the Biblical Patriarch Jacob experiences this after he decides to rest for the night; while asleep he experiences an astonishing epiphany.

Jacob astonishingly proclaims this event takes place where he never realized before, occurring as “the house of God-this gate of heaven.” Plausibly, Jacob’s experience suggests a sexual encounter with God. Examples paralleling this Holy encounter transpire in the Song of Solomon and The Interior Castle, by Teresa of Avila. Also, The Hymn of the Pearl, by the Apostle Thomas, tells of a long journey of the soul that leads back to its divine home. Moreover, in The Dark Night of the Soul, John writes, “In darkness, and secure, by the secret ‘ladder’ disguised, - ah, the sheer grace!” Feasibly, John relates the word ‘ladder’ as a sexual metaphor; similar to Jacob’s ‘ladder’ in Genesis, having the same sexual meaning. Decisively, by comparing varied scriptures, the journey to the Promised Land appears to be God’s stone house; related as a sexual metaphor.
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