T housands of years have passed since the mysterious nocturnal confrontation between Yaakov and the angel of Eisav yet nothing has changed. Yaakov is still engaged in a wrestling match that has been forced upon him against an enemy that seeks his destruction
“And Yaakov was left alone…” (Bereishis 32:24).
The Ramban’s commentary on the verse as in other places in Sefer Bereishis again refers to how the events in the lives of the Forefathers are really a blueprint for the future. “Here again we have an allusion to future generations for everything that happened to our Forefather with Eisav will happen to us perpetually with Eisav’s descendants.”
In other words the particular events of the moment in history described there are like a picture on microfilm which when enlarged will show millennia of future events contained in one seminal episode. Study it closely and you will have a sign of things to come.
The encounter between Yaakov and Eisav is not merely a personal one; it is historic. Every encounter between the descendants of Yaakov and Eisav throughout history contains the DNA imprint of that original encounter. But the climactic moment of the drama actually occurs before the two brothers come face to face. It occurs on the preceding night:
