Jacob's ladder

1. Nautical. A rope or chain ladder with rigid rungs.
2. Any of various plants of the genus Polemonium, especially P. caeruleum, having blue flowers and alternate, pinnately compound leaves with numerous leaflets.

[From the ladder seen by the biblical patriarch Jacob in a dream (Genesis 28:12).]

A rope ladder with wooden rungs, especially for access to a ship up the side.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

According to the Kabala, Jacob's Ladder, which was disclosed to Jacob in a vision, was a metaphorical representation of the powers of alchemy operating through visible nature. The ladder was a "rainbow," or prismatic staircase, between heaven and earth. Jacob's dream symbolizes a theory of the hermetic creation. There were said to be only two original colors, red and blue, representing spirit and matter. Orange is red mixing with the yellow light of the sun; yellow is the radiance of the sun itself; green is blue and yellow; indigo is blue tinctured with red; and violet is produced by the mingling of red and blue. The sun is alchemic gold, and the moon is alchemic silver. It was believed that all earthly creations were produced through the interaction of these two potent ruling spirits.

Jacob's Ladder is also part of the symbolism of the high grades of Freemasonry.

A ladder that Jacob saw in a dream. After he had obtained his brother Esau's birthright and received his father's blessing, he had a vision of the angels of God ascending and descending a ladder that extended from Earth to heaven. God, who stood at the top of the ladder, promised to bless Jacob and his offspring and to bring his descendants into the Promised Land. (See Jacob and Esau.)