God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem. (Genesis 35:1-4 ESV).
Sometimes we don’t fully understand an event until we have the wisdom of hindsight. Many years earlier, as he fled for his life, Jacob had experienced a vision of God at Bethel (cf. Genesis 28:10-22). He had heard God’s promise to watch over him wherever he would go. Then later, while returning to his homeland, Jacob again encountered God and received a new identity: Israel, “one who wrestles with God” yet receives blessing (cf. Genesis 32:22-32). Now both experiences come together as Jacob leads his family back to Bethel for a time of worship and renewal before God. Previously Jacob’s experiences of God were solitary and personal. Now he shares his testimony of God’s faithfulness with his household, calling them to wrestle with repentance and faith too. Here he builds his altar.
Perhaps you, like Jacob, have had a long and roundabout journey with God. Maybe you always sensed that God was there, but then in hindsight, you have seen how faithful God has been. In spite of our sins and scheming ways, in spite of the pain and difficulty of your journey, God has always proven ready to forgive and bless you. He has given each of us a new identity by grace through Christ. This is what we celebrate.
I have found that I can do that best in my “cathedral.” This place is usually not made of brick and mortar. It is always that place where I can most easily see the hand of God as He has worked mightily in my life. These are the places where I “build an altar.” While the altars I’ve built have never been literal, they are just as important. It is when I return to the moments in my life when God was so apparent that He was undeniable and inescapable. Find your cathedral and build an altar so that you can easily have the flood of wisdom gained from your past to face whatever your future might hold!