(16) Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surelyיהוה is present in this place, and I did not know it!”

אכן יש יהוה במקום הזה, contrary to what I thought when I lay down here that this is a totally secular place, devoid of sanctity. Every time the expression אכן occurs in Scripture it means that the person exclaiming it had to revise an opinion previously held. A well-known example is Exodus 2,14אכן נודע הדבר, when Moses made the devastating discovery that his having slain the Egyptian had not remained a secret.