Jacob is one of the most important figures in the Bible, because it's through Jacob that Israel goes from being a family to becoming a nation. This passage is the place where Israel gets its name. That's significant for us all, because it shows us how God transforms people. This story is all about life-transformation, but not in the way we think. It shows us that real life change always involves facing things that are deeper than we can see, and dealing with things that are darker than we want to admit. The results, however, are beyond anything we can imagine or produce for ourselves.