Jacob's history is written for our admonition; but we ought to learn the lesson more quickly, and more deeply too, because we know the risen One and our union with Him. Our very axiom is, "The flesh profiteth nothing."
What a blessed testimony does Jacob bear to the faithfulness of God: "The God which fed me all my life long unto this day." When Jacob walked by sight, he did not so clearly see God feeding him and caring for him; but "leaning upon the top of his staff," he retraces all God's ways by faith.
If any one character could have set aside the faithfulness of God, it is that of Jacob. It was marked by low cunning and crookedness of policy from the outset with regard to his brother Esau. But this did not at all interfere with God's fidelity to him Looking back, he sees and, I doubt not, sees with joy the failure of all his scheming and policy. Jacob is absorbed in one single thought; namely, the grace and faithfulness of the God with whom he has to do. He was never saved from a single danger by his own policy; but Jacob can pass over all his own failures in the overwhelming thought of God's grace toward him.