What does Genesis 32:2 mean?

When Jacob left Canaan to go to his uncle Laban in Paddan-Aram, he encountered angels and the Lord Himself in a dream (Genesis 28:12–13). When he woke up, he declared, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Here, again, Jacob's response to being met by the angels of God is to declare the place where it happens as special. He calls it "God's camp." The name he gives the place, Mahanaim, means "two camps." It is not exactly clear what those two camps might be, although Jacob will divide his company into two camps in the following verses as a strategy to save some of his people and property from a potential attack by his brother Esau.

Though we don't know exactly where it is now, Mahanaim is referenced several times later in Israel's history. It was one of the cities of the Levites (Joshua 13:26) and, later, became the seat of Ish-bosheth's reign over northern Israel (2 Samuel 2:8-9). David also sought safety there when Absalom was after him (2 Samuel 17:24).