Genesis 35:20

‘And Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.'

The loss of Rachel is a deep blow and when she is buried he sets up a memorial stone. The setting up of such stones was a custom widely practised in Canaan in those days. The significance attached to such a pillar would vary between tribes as with so many customs and we are given no hint here what is in Jacob's mind. It may well have been just because he did not want her burial place to be forgotten. Later Israel was certainly decidedly against any funerary cult. Possibly he felt that in some way it kept her alive. Consider how even today the loss of a very dear loved one results in people praying at the grave. They cannot believe the loved one has gone.

“The same is the pillar of Rachel” s grave to this day.' ‘To this day' may signify a long or a short time. It merely says that the writer is aware of the pillar and declares it is still there. We may therefore see it as the comment of the recorder of this covenant record within a relatively short time of the occurrence or as an added comment made later by the compiler.

This is the second death of someone important to him preparatory to his being restored to his family (compare Genesis 35:8). If only he had returned earlier what might have been avoided. Now he returns surrounded by grief. We must always beware of delay when dealing with God.