What does this passage mean that the Lord wrestled with Jacob? This is a very unusual passage in the Old Testament. Many believers see it as a Christophany or appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. In this passage, Jacob claims that he had “seen God face to face, and his (my) life is preserved.” Yet in Exodus 33:20 when Moses asks to see the Lord’s glory, God answers him, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”