Question: What is the Rabbinical interpretation of the procession of angels ascending Jacob’s Ladder and other angels then descending the ladder in Jacob’s dream?

Answer: The commentary of Rashi explains that the angels going up were the angels of the land of Israel taking leave of Jacob, while the one’s coming down were the angels of the Diaspora coming to welcome him.

Ramban’s (Nachmanides) commentary explains that G-d was showing him that regular people didn’t have direct divine providence by G-d, rather G-d watches them with angels. So angels were going up as if to tell G-d what is happening here, and coming down to do His will, as it were. G-d however, was on top of this ladder to show that Jacob was so great that G-d would watch him directly without angels in between them.

Rabbi Meir Goldberg