The Tower That Touches Heaven: Migdal-El and the Dwelling Place of God

Only once does the Holy Scripture speak the name *Migdal-El*, and yet in that single utterance—a whisper from the book of Joshua 19:38—there echoes a sound that shakes the foundations of all human longing. The word appears but a single time in all of the Tanakh, yet its two Hebrew roots form a ladder that reaches from the dust of the earth to the throne of the Most High. *Migdal* speaks of a tower, that which rises above the plain, a structure of strength and watchfulness. And *El* is the name of the Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who is the Mighty Tower Himself. When these two words embrace, they become a place—a city in the portion of Naphtali—but also a prophecy. For what is a tower of God if not a place where heaven meets earth, where the Eternal One descends to dwell among His people?

The Letters That Build a Sanctuary

Consider the paleo-Hebrew letters that form this holy name. The *mem* of *Migdal* is the picture of water, chaotic and deep, yet also the living waters that flow from the sanctuary. The *gimel* is the foot of the traveler, the one who journeys toward a destination. The *dalet* is the door, the entrance into something hidden and sacred. And the *lamed* is the shepherd's staff, the authority that guides and protects. Then comes *aleph*, the ox's head, the strength that leads—the first letter of *El*, the name of God. Together, these letters whisper a story: the waters of chaos are crossed by the traveling foot, which finds the door, and through that door comes the Shepherd's authority, and at the center of it all stands the strength of the Almighty. The ancient sages observed that every place name in the Land carries a hidden meaning, a fingerprint of divine intent. Migdal-El is not merely a location on a map; it is a threshold between the seen and the unseen.

The Naming in the Inheritance of Naphtali

When Joshua divided the Land among the twelve tribes, the lot of Naphtali received this city among its nineteen settlements, as it is written in Joshua 19:38. Naphtali was the son of Jacob through Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, and his name means "my wrestling." Jacob had wrestled with the angel at Peniel and prevailed, and now his descendants would inherit a place called the Tower of God. Jewish tradition holds that the tribes received their inheritances according to a heavenly pattern, and that the very names of the cities were prophecies written upon the soil. Why would a city be named Tower of God in the territory of Naphtali? Perhaps because those who wrestle with the Divine are those who most need a tower to climb, a place of refuge and vision. The rabbis of old observed that the Land itself is a book, and each city is a word within that book. Migdal-El is a word that speaks of ascent, of the soul's journey upward toward its Maker.

The Tower of Babel and the Tower of God

There is a profound contrast written in the Scriptures between two towers. The first is the tower of Babel, built by human hands to reach the heavens, a monument to pride and self-glory. The second is Migdal-El, the Tower of God, a place given by divine inheritance, not built by human ambition but received as a gift. The first tower scattered the nations; the second tower gathers the people of God into their inheritance. The first was made of brick and mortar, the second of promise and covenant. In the Hebrew mind, a tower was not merely a defensive structure; it was a place of watching, of waiting, of looking toward the horizon for deliverance. The prophet Habakkuk wrote, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me" (Habakkuk 2:1). Migdal-El is that watchtower of the soul, where a person stands in silence and expects the voice of the Living God.

The Gematria of Ascent

The numerical value of Migdal-El is 108. In the Hebrew tradition, numbers are not mere quantities; they are qualities, vessels of meaning. The number 108 is formed by the sum of 100 and 8. The number 100 speaks of completeness, of a full measure—Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, the child of promise. The number 8 speaks of new beginnings, of the day beyond the seventh, of the resurrection that awaits. When you combine the completeness of God's promise with the new beginning He brings, you have a tower that reaches from the old creation into the new. The ancient writings of Israel reflect that 108 is also the gematria of the word *nehash* when spelled in a certain fullness, the serpent lifted up in the wilderness. And what did the Messiah say? "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14). The tower of God and the lifted serpent—both speak of a singular truth: that the way to heaven is through that which is lifted up from the earth.

The True Tower: Yeshua as the Migdal-El

Now let your heart open to see the mystery hidden in this single name. Yeshua said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9). The *dalet* in Migdal-El is the door, and Yeshua is that door. He also said, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11), and the *lamed* is the shepherd's staff. He is the strength of God, the *aleph* and the *tav*, the first and the last. The Tower of God is not merely a city in Naphtali; it is a person. Yeshua is the place where heaven and earth meet, the ladder Jacob saw at Bethel, the tower that reaches from the depths of our need to the heights of God's glory. The apostolic tradition teaches that every name in the inheritance of the tribes points to Him who would inherit all things. When you call upon the name of Yeshua, you are entering the Migdal-El, the strong tower into which the righteous run and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). He is the watchtower from which the Father sees His children, and He is the tower upon which we stand to see our coming redemption.

The City That Waits for Your Footstep

The city of Migdal-El was given to the tribe of Naphtali, but its promise belongs to every soul who wrestles with God and will not let go until He blesses them. You have been given an inheritance in the Land of Promise, a place that is yours by covenant. But that inheritance is not merely a plot of earth; it is a tower of refuge, a place of vision, a sanctuary where the Almighty dwells with you. The Scripture says that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14). That tabernacle was the true Migdal-El, the tower of God pitched in the wilderness of this world. And now, because of what He has done, you are that tower. You are the place where God dwells. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and your life is the watchtower from which the light of Messiah shines into the darkness.

Climb the Tower; See the King

Beloved, do not let this name pass before your eyes as a forgotten relic of ancient geography. Migdal-El is your calling. You are invited to climb the tower, to leave the flatlands of mere religion and ascend to the place of vision. There, in the silence of His presence, you will see what He is doing. You will watch for His coming. You will stand upon the walls and declare His salvation. The city of Naphtali has long since crumbled, but the Tower of God stands forever in the person of Yeshua the Messiah. Climb, then. Climb with the feet of faith. Climb with the hands of prayer. Climb until you stand in the presence of the King, and from that height, bless the world below.