Portals in the Bible

Portal: In this card, a place or event where the heavenly realm opens to the earthly one and beings or glory pass between them. The word is not in Scripture. The Bible describes the same idea with a gate, a door, a ladder, and an opened heaven.

Gate of heaven: The phrase Jacob used for Bethel after his dream of a ladder, in Genesis 28:17.

## What Is a Portal in the Bible? The Bible does not use the word portal. It does describe places and moments where heaven opens and beings pass between heaven and earth: Jacob’s ladder at Bethel, the opened heavens in Ezekiel and the Gospels, the cloud and fire at Sinai, and the open door in Revelation 4:1. In each case God opens the way. The Bible gives no instructions for people to open one.

## Quick Facts Word: Portal does not appear in the Bible. The nearest ideas are a gate, a door, and an opened heaven. Key verse: Genesis 28:12 to 17, Jacob’s ladder and the “gate of heaven.” Opened heavens: Ezekiel 1:1, Matthew 3:16, Acts 7:56, Acts 10:11, and Revelation 4:1. Throne imagery: Psalm 18:10, Ezekiel 1 and 10, and 1 Chronicles 28:18. Sinai: Exodus 19:16 to 19, with a thick cloud, thunder, lightning, smoke, and a quaking mountain. Eyes opened to see: Numbers 22:31 and 2 Kings 6:17. Warnings: Deuteronomy 18:9 to 12, 2 Corinthians 11:14, Galatians 1:8, and 1 John 4:1.

## What Does Jacob’s Ladder Show? In Genesis 28, Jacob sleeps at a place called Luz and dreams of a ladder that rests on the earth and reaches heaven. Angels go up and down on it, and the LORD stands above it. Jacob wakes and says the place is the house of God and the gate of heaven. He renames it Bethel. Jacob did not build the opening or find a method for it. God revealed it to him. In John 1:51, Jesus tells Nathanael he will see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man. Jesus places himself at the point where heaven and earth connect.

## What Do Opened Heavens Look Like in Scripture? Ezekiel 1:1 and 1:4: The heavens open and Ezekiel sees visions of God. A storm wind comes from the north with a great cloud, flashing fire, and brightness. Matthew 3:16: The heavens open at the baptism of Jesus, and the Spirit descends like a dove. Acts 7:56: Stephen sees the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Acts 10:11: Peter sees heaven open and a vessel descend. Revelation 4:1: John sees a door standing open in heaven and hears a voice calling him up. In most of these passages the person sees the opening. At Sinai the whole camp of Israel saw and heard it.

## Why Do Clouds, Fire, and Thunder Appear? Psalm 18:7 to 13 gives the fullest description. The earth shakes, smoke rises, and fire comes from his mouth. He bows the heavens and comes down with darkness under his feet. He rides on a cherub, makes darkness his hiding place, and surrounds himself with dark waters and thick clouds. Brightness comes before him, hail and coals of fire fall, and the LORD thunders from heaven in verse 13. The same account appears in 2 Samuel 22. Sinai matches the pattern. Exodus 19 describes thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, a trumpet sound, smoke, and a mountain that shakes. Hebrews 12:21 adds that Moses said he feared and trembled. Joel 2:2 and Zephaniah 1:15 describe the day of the LORD as a day of clouds and thick darkness. Those verses describe a day of judgment, not a throne in motion.

## What About the Ezekiel Wheels and the Ancient Astronaut Claim? Erich von Däniken, in Chariots of the Gods (1968), argued that ancient people met space travelers. He used Ezekiel 1 as one of many examples. Ezekiel gives his own answer. He says he saw visions of God, and he calls the vision the likeness of the glory of the LORD. In Ezekiel 10:20 he says he knew the living creatures were cherubim. The text identifies them as heavenly beings, not as a craft.

## What Does the Book of Enoch Add? First Enoch 14 describes Enoch carried in a vision by clouds, mist, stars, lightning, and wind into a house of crystal and fire. Verse numbers differ by translation, and the standard scholarly numbering is 14:8 to 13. The account is a vision of an ascent to heaven. Jude 14 quotes 1 Enoch 1:9. Most Protestant churches do not count Enoch as Scripture, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church does.

## Do Fallen Beings Use Openings Too? Scripture shows spirit beings with access to the heavenly court. In Job 1:6 and 2:1, Satan appears with the sons of God before the LORD. Genesis 6:1 to 4 says the sons of God came in to the daughters of men. Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 say some angels left their proper place. The New Testament warns that appearances can deceive. Second Corinthians 11:14 says Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Galatians 1:8 says even an angel from heaven who preaches another gospel is accursed. First John 4:1 tells believers to test the spirits. Deuteronomy 18:9 to 12 forbids divination, mediums, and those who consult the dead. Leviticus 19:31 and Isaiah 8:19 repeat the ban. Seeking contact with spirits is forbidden throughout Scripture.

## How Do Occult Systems Use Portals? Some modern occult systems claim to open gateways to other realms. The “Watchtowers” in Wicca, the guardians of the four quarters of a ritual circle, come from the Enochian system of John Dee and Edward Kelley, which the Golden Dawn later adopted. Popular culture adds the Stargate television series, which presents portals as doorways to ancient allies and enemies. Photographic “orbs” are a related claim. Most orbs in photos come from dust or moisture close to the lens, lit by the flash.

## What Is the Argument For and Against Seeking an Opening? Some Christian groups, especially within the New Apostolic Reformation, hold that certain places are open to heaven. A critic of the movement reports pilgrimages to such sites, prayer walks, prophetic declarations, and anointing oil. The same critic says the groups cite Genesis 28:16 to 17, John 1:51, and Revelation 4:1. The same critic names Bethel Church in Redding, California, as a site that draws pilgrims. For seeking: Isaiah 64:1 records a prayer asking God to tear the heavens open and come down. Supporters say they pray for God’s presence, not for contact with other beings. Against seeking: In every biblical case, God opens heaven, at the time he chooses. Isaiah 64:1 asks God to act. It gives no method for people to do it. Scripture gives no technique for opening heaven, and it bans seeking contact with spirits. The New Testament warns that spirits and angels can deceive.

## My View I believe portals are real, and I believe God alone opens heaven. I believe there are more openings now as time draws to its end. I believe many people are deceived by them. They look for orbs, doorways, and portals, hoping to contact beings from other dimensions. Not every being in those dimensions is friendly. I believe fallen beings have worked since Lucifer’s fall to deceive humanity, and that they move between dimensions through openings, sometimes appearing as metallic disks or as messengers who mock God. I believe many UFO encounters follow the same pattern of cloud, haze, and sound that Scripture records at the openings of heaven. I have read reports that Christian groups have climbed mountains to try to open portals. I warn against it. The Bible gives no method for opening heaven, and it forbids seeking contact with spirits. People who go looking for a doorway cannot choose what comes through it.

## Sources Investigating the NAR Concept of Heavenly Portals and Christian Discernment, bcooper.ca, February 28, 2025. https://bcooper.ca/2025/02/28/investigating-the-nar-the-concept-of-heavenly-portals/ Genesis 28:10 to 17; Exodus 19; Psalm 18; Isaiah 64:1; Ezekiel 1 and 10; Matthew 3:16; John 1:51; Acts 7:56 and 10:11; Revelation 4:1; Deuteronomy 18:9 to 12; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Galatians 1:8; 1 John 4:1. Erich von Däniken, Chariots of the Gods (1968). 1 Enoch 14 and Jude 14. Further reading: Fallen Angels & Malaterrestrials by CK Quarterman. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HMSHNLD7