Parashas Vayeitzei · Passuk 28:11
And he came upon the place and lodged there because the sun had set, and he took from the stones of the place and placed them at his head, and he lay down in that place.
Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin 95b.
TT lemma: ויפגע במקום.
English: Our Rabbis taught: The ground contracted for our father Yaakov, as it is stated “And Yaakov went out from Be’er Sheva and went to Charan,” and it is written “And he came upon the place.” When he reached Charan he said: Is it possible that I passed the place where my fathers prayed and I did not pray? He intended to return. As soon as the thought of returning entered his mind, the ground contracted for him, and immediately “And he came upon the place.”
Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The apparent contradiction between “he went to Charan” and “he came upon the place” is resolved by the miracle of kefitzas haderech.
Hashem contracted the earth under Yaakov so that he could return and pray at the sacred site of his fathers.