There is something mystical about a place. Places evoke memories of good or bad things. When Jacob had a dream at Luz, he woke up and exclaimed: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:17 NKJV).

Golgotha reminds us of where Jesus was crucified. Moriah reminds us of where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac. The valley of Elah reminds us of the defeat of Goliath.

For Jacob, Peniel evokes the memory of the face of God. Jacob called the name of the place where he encountered God and where God blessed him, Peniel, meaning, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Note that he saw the face of God in his moment of solitariness. “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day,” (Genesis 32:24 NKJV). When Jacob knew that he was to meet Esau his brother, after a period of separation for 20 years, fear gripped him. He divested himself of all the earthly possessions he had accumulated in 20 years in the house of Laban. Left alone, an Angel came to him to wrestle with him.

Peniel was tremendously significant in Jacob’s life. It was here that his name was changed to Israel. It was also here that he experienced a turning point in his life.

Peniel was a place of prevailing prayer, a place of wrestling with God for Jacob. Peniel was a place of encounter and transformation. It was also a place where Jacob stubbornly extracted a blessing from God; he would not let God go until He blessed him. It was a place of spiritual breakthrough and victory for Jacob. “And He said: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed,” ( Genesis 32:28 NKJV). It was the place where the sun rose on him and he limped on his hip.

In Exodus 33, Moses sought God to show him his glory, God declined and said: “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said: “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So, it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:20-23 NKJV).

Jesus is the full expression of God’s glory. God’s glory can be seen in the face of Jesus. John 1:18 reads: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command…” (Hebrews 1:3 NLT).

“You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ,” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6 NLT).

To see God’s face, the veil in our hearts must be removed. Ask God to remove this veil.

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