This prefigures the church of Jesus Christ. You have Jacob: he is a godly man, but he has two wives and his wives’ maids. Nevertheless, God, in his mercy and his kindness, brings about the nation of Israel, and all the sons are born who will be the heads of the tribes, the twelve tribes of Israel. So the typical church of the Old Testament, the prophetic figure of the New Testament church, is gathered in at this time and begun. The sons are born; the tribes are started in effect. It begins with grace, the ladder reaching up to heaven, reconciliation with God through a Saviour's work, the blessing of God coming down, our prayers and love and devotion and thanksgiving going up. Union with God: that is the beginning of the church. That is the first step of being admitted to the church, conversion through Christ. Then you see the nation being formed. Now many of them were believers, but by no means all. Only a minority were ever believers. Nevertheless, even as a mixed multitude, it is a figure and it represents the true church of converted people in the time of Christ and the Christian age, and the sons are brought in. The names that Leah gives to her sons are all names which reflect her longing for love and acceptance equal to or in place of Rachel. The sad, sad jealousy, the deep jealousy of the polygamous household, and the sons in their names reflect her longing and her suffering. But nevertheless, the church is formed.