Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "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." Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there.
Genesis 32:24-29
Isaac went on to marry Rebekah. The story of their marriage in Genesis 24 is also a picture of The Holy Spirit going to get a “Bride” for Jesus the Son of God (The Bride of Christ is the Church of Jesus Christ.).
Note that Rebekah was willing to leave her home to marry Isaac, just as believers must be willing to leave everything to follow Christ as His Bride.
Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons: Esau and Jacob. Esau was a man’s man, but not spiritually tuned. Jacob was a sneak, a liar, and a thief. Isaac favored Esau, and Rebekah favored Jacob. (Favoritism in a family always causes trouble—and it did!) Rebekah led Jacob to deceive his father Isaac to steal his father’s blessing from his elder brother Esau. This caused such strife that Jacob had to flee for his life.
While away, Jacob married two women (sisters!) and had twelve sons and a daughter. While Jacob was a dishonest conniver, he was outmatched by his father-in-law, Laban. God blessed Jacob and Jacob decided to make a run for it to get away from his over-bearing father-in-law, Laban.
Jacob and his family came back to the land—God promised had to Abraham—from which he had fled. Jacob was going to have to face his estranged brother, whom Jacob had defrauded, not once but twice!
The night before the twin brothers met, while Jacob was again afraid for his life, God met with him, and they “wrestled” all night. When Jacob realized that he couldn’t “defeat” God, Jacob surrendered, pleading for God’s blessing—which God graciously gave. That all-night wrestling match resulted in Jacob’s conversion. Even though Jacob was a descendant of Abraham, Jacob was not “saved” until he surrendered to God. It was when he surrendered—just as it is for each of us. We must surrender to Jesus if we are to be saved.