At first, Zeir Anpin, or the Cosmic Man, has immature intelligence or a "small brain." But what is Zeir Anpin? It is a spiritual entity roughly equivalent to how humanity interacts with God. The brain of Zeir Anpin is represented by the name of God - Elohim - repeated three times. The gematria of Elohim is 86, and three times that is 258, which is precisely the gematria of Charan. Thus Jacob's going to Charan represents the progressing maturity of the Cosmic Man.
Jacob himself comes from a higher level, the Supernal Father, Zeir Anpin's father. In fact, Jacob derives from the qualities of Victory, Glory, and Foundation of the Supernal Father, and this is the secret meaning of the phrase, "Jacob came out of Beer-sheba," since Foundation is called "Beer" - the well.
The last letters of the phrase, "And Jacob left," ו'צא 'עקב מבאר, constitute the word "Beer," but they can also be read as אבר - organ - or Foundation. Jacob leaving Beer-sheba and going to Charan thus represents a progressive stage of the Cosmic Man's maturity, leading to his acquiring a "big brain," a process in which Jacob is instrumental.
Thus, we see that the physical Jacob represents spiritual changes in the world that occur through him and are hidden in him. In the same way, higher levels of spirituality hide inside lower levels and pretend that they are not there. Their relationship to the lower levels is that of the soul to the body; they are called the soul of the previous story.
Art: Eugene Delacroix - Jacob Wrestling with the Angel
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