God funnels Jacob to a point where there is nothing left he can trust in. He cannot plan or scheme his way out. This culminates in a wrestling match between God and Jacob in which Jacob prevails by his surrender.
Idolatry is on full display as the sons of Jacob are named based on two sisters' struggle against one another for the love of their husband and the prestige of bearing the most sons.
Jacob experiences God in a desolate place - receiving the promise by the proclamation of God. Yet, Jacob reveres the place more than the promise and we also look at the fulfillment of Jacob's ladder from Jesus' own words