" . . . Since his life is bound up in the lad's life . . . "
The reference (above) is Jacob's life being entwined around his youngest son's (Benjamin's) life. I would like to extrapolate a bit, and note that Christ's life is bound up with that of His redeemed church (collectively), and with every individual saint within it (individually).
This is how close God is to those who are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone: what happens to them means *everything* to Him. The church is the "apple of God's eye"; therefore, let us be ever-mindful of how much the Lord loves us, and takes to heart what happens to us.
[Puritan quote of the day: "[God] will outwit the most subtle and overthrow the most stubborn hypocrite on earth." --Richard Steele, in "The Character of an Upright Man"]
