It states (28:11) ֶּׁׁמֶשהַש בָא כִּי שָׁם וַיָּלֶן בַּמ ָּקוֹם וַיִּפ ְגַּע, "He arrived at the place and lodged there because the sun had set." The Midrash (Bereishis Rabba 68:10) says that ֶּׁׁמֶשהַש בָא כִּי should be translated as ֶּׁׁמֶשהַש כִּיבָה, the sun was extinguished. This is because the sun set before its time, and it was like Hashem extinguished the light of the sun. The Midrash says, "It is like when a king's friend comes to visit the king. The king says, 'Turn off the lights. I want to speak with him in privacy.' Similarly, Hashem turned off the lights to speak with Yaakov privately."
Let's learn from this that when there are difficult, dark times for Bnei Yisrael, it is a time of love. Hashem is calling us; He wants to speak to us privately.
