Genesis 33:18-20 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-Aram, and pitched his tent before the city. And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
When Jacob finally returned to the Promised Land of Canaan and was ready to settle in the Land, he bought a piece of the land. This action was his response of faith in the Promise of God. Then to seal the deal with God, and to express his faith with thanksgiving and worship, he built an altar. He named it ”God the God of Israel.” Jacob personally received the Covenant Promise and made the God of the Covenant his God. By extension, he made that God the God of his descendants, also called Israel.
Jacob responded to God’s promises given by grace to Abraham and Isaac by solidifying his faith in the Covenant God. And he made the Lord the God of the nation that would bring blessing to all the earth. By staking a claim to the Land he was claiming the Lord as his God and the promise as a promise for him. Jacob was in essence ”confessing his faith in Jesus.”
This is also our response to the Gospel. We claim our place in the Kingdom of God. We confess Jesus, the fulfillment of the Land Promise, as our Lord. We make a place in our heart (where the kingdom is) for the worship of God. We thank God. We do this every time we attend church to hear the gospel, proclaim His grace in Holy Communion, remember our Baptism, open the Bible to see the Word, and pause for thankful prayer. Faith buys a piece of Kingdom (believes) and erects an altar (worships).