And Jewish tradition offers a stunning, almost unbelievable, answer.
We all know the story of Jacob's dream. Fleeing his brother Esau, he rests his head on a pile of stones and dreams of a ladder stretching to heaven, angels ascending and descending. A powerful, foundational story. But what happened after that dream?
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, in chapter 35, tells us that when Jacob awoke, he went back to gather those stones he’d used as a pillow. And here's where it gets truly amazing. He found that all the individual stones had miraculously fused together into a single, massive stone.
So, what did Jacob do? He set it up as a pillar, right there in the middle of the place, and—get this—oil descended from heaven and he poured it on top. As the verse says, "And he poured oil upon the top of it" (Genesis 28:18). A divine anointing.
But the story doesn't end there. Oh no. According to this ancient text, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, God Himself then placed His right foot upon the stone. Can you imagine? And with that, He sank the stone down, down, down to the very bottom of the depths, making it the keystone of the entire earth.
Think of an archway. That central stone, the keystone, is what holds everything together. That’s what this stone became for the world. That's why, the text tells us, it's called the even shetiyah, the foundation stone.
This isn't just some random location. This is the navel of the earth, the place from which everything else unfolded and evolved. The very center.
And where is this foundation stone, this navel of the earth? According to tradition, it’s the very spot upon which God’s Sanctuary stands. As Jacob himself declared, "And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house" (Genesis 28:22). A dream. A pile of stones. A divine fusion. A heavenly descent of oil. God's own foot. And from that spot, everything springs forth. It’s a powerful image, isn't it? A reminder that even the most humble beginnings can be the foundation for something truly sacred.