Bethel

A town twelve miles north of Jerusalem. When Jacob traveled to his uncle Laban’s home in Haran, he camped for the night near a Canaanite town called Luz and slept on the ground with his head on a rock. Here Jacob had an amazing dream of angels on a stairway. When he awoke, he called the place Bethel, which means “house of God,” because he had met with God. He later built an altar there.

After the Israelites entered Canaan, the ark of the covenant was kept at Bethel. When the country split into the northern and southern kingdoms, King Jeroboam chose Bethel as a place to set up his golden calves.