I’ve always been interested in the story of Jacob wrestling with God (although in this picture it’s an angel), because it’s so rich in symbolism. Interpretations of the incident meander across the three Abrahamic religions, and range from one extreme to the other. Here are some:

It is metaphorical:
Jacob was wrestling with the existential idea of God…or,
he was wrestling over whether he should submit to God’s plan…or,
he was wrestling with life’s struggles.

It is literal:
Jacob was wrestling with his elder brother Esau’s guardian angel…or,
he was wrestling with a pre-incarnation of Jesus…or,
it’s simply a ridiculous story. (Who can be the match of God?)

So which is most likely? Well, it’s important to place the incident in context. Recall the basic story: Jacob and Esau are twins, with Esau being the first-born.  Esau is a successful hunter, his father’s favorite, and destined to inherit his blessing as well as his goods. Jacob, however, successfully connives to get both.

After attaining the blessing meant for Esau, Jacob runs off because Esau vows to kill him. Years later, as Jacob abandons his father-in-law’s oppression in search of a home and future of his own making, he learns of Esau’s advance with a large army. Fearing the worst, he sends his livestock ahead as an appeasement, and separates himself from his family.

Alone in the wilderness, alongside the Jordan River, he wrestles all night long with a man he later identifies as God. Although injured by God, Jacob refuses to stop wrestling until God blesses him. At that point, he is also given a new name: Israel.  Jacob then goes forward to meet his brother, they embrace, and all ends well. He ends up founding a nation.

So back to our question of just what exactly the wrestling match signifies.
Two possibilities:

The first is that real growth experiences almost always involve struggle and pain. This may not seem convincing to the happily undamaged, yet in order to make it through grief, trauma, or any painful experience without breaking, a person normally must reshape her understanding of either herself or something equally significant—like the meaning of life, the value of previous goals, etc. (See more on this, see Grief and Trauma)

But also, struggle can engender a new identity. As many writers have pointed out, Jacob’s having crossed the Jordan just before his encounter suggests that he’s crossed a boundary that’s just as internal as it is external. In the words of Rabbi Sacks (Rabbisacks.org), “One thing stands out about the first phase in Jacob’s life. He longs to … occupy Esau’s place. He struggles with him in the womb. He is born holding on to Esau’s heel. He buys Esau’s birthright. He dresses in Esau’s clothes. He takes Esau’s blessing. When the blind Isaac asks him who he is, he replies, “I am Esau, your firstborn.”

Twenty-two years later, however, on the day following his river crossing and the momentous wrestling match, Jacob gives back the blessing of wealth and title because he now has a new blessing-one that was intended for him and bestowed upon him by God. He has a new name-one that comes to encompass a nation, and he has a new identity. No longer is he Jacob, a man out for his own, but Israel, the leader of a nation.

And so, for the rest of us the meaning of Jacob’s wrestling match, may now seem a little clearer:
1.  Struggle works as a hammer, shaping us into wiser versions of ourselves, and…
2. Struggle acts as a catalyst for transforming the self-centered concerns of our own egos (concerns that cause us to lie, cheat, and steal from others) into more magnanimous and responsible concerns that can ultmately benefit others.