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Now a broken (albeit victorious) man, Jacob recognizes the truth about God as One on whom he must rely. His focus has to shift from looking at himself to gazing upon God. What Jacob experiences at Penuel is not an ontological change but a change of relationship. Jacob is now Israel. With the new status he is afforded, the past mistakes are forgiven and the future gleams with opportunity. We shall see later that the transformation was not absolute. But it is, nonetheless, out of this new-found confidence in God that reconciliation with Esau takes place.
The meeting between the two brothers is full of pathos. Jacob’s attempts to gain favor from Esau are seen in his excessive deference and showering of gifts on his brother (indicative, no doubt, of the weight upon Jacob’s conscience). But it is the sheer grace of Esau’s response that is most striking in the narrative (vv.4, 9). It is as if Esau, like the nocturnal combatant, sets past sins aside and freely offers Jacob forgiveness and restitution. In this context, the use of the word face (v.10) is significant. Jacob had dreaded seeing Esau’s face (32-20). Unexpectedly, he had seen God’s face (v.30) and received pardon and renewal. Now, he declares, seeing Esau’s face is like seeing God’s face, presumably because of the similarity of experience.