The only Biblical reference to a ladder is at Genesis 28:12, where the Hebrew term sul·lamʹ applies to a ladder Jacob beheld in a dream. The patriarch saw a ladder (or perhaps what looked like a rising flight of stones) stationed upon the earth, with its top reaching up to the heavens. God’s angels were ascending and descending on the ladder, and a representation of Jehovah God was above it. (Ge 28:13) This ladder with the angels upon it indicates the existence of communication between earth and heaven and that angels minister in an important way between God and those having his approval.

When Jesus said to his disciples, “Most truly I say to you men, You will see heaven opened up and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Son of man,” he may have had in mind Jacob’s vision.​—Joh 1:51.

Scaling ladders were part of siege equipment used during warfare and are frequently depicted on Egyptian and Assyrian monuments. A relief from Nineveh shows the Assyrians employing siege ladders when assaulting Lachish.

Ladders served other purposes in ancient times, as in the building trades. For instance, they are shown on the Ur-Nammu stele depicting the construction of a ziggurat. Also, in an Assyrian relief from Tell Halaf, considered to be of the ninth century B.C.E., a man is shown climbing a date-palm tree by means of a ladder.