The image of a ladder is commonplace in Jean Vanier's writings. This image is used as a metaphor for people who are most often considered weak or broken in society. Yet Vanier calls those people who are not so marked to “descend the ladder”, to be in communion with the marginalized or outcast. Vanier uses the metaphor as a pointer toward the deeper purposes of being human: of body, of community, and of heart. This discussion highlights aspects of the theological anthropology emerging from Vanier's uses of the metaphor and considers how these uses inform the notions of including and befriending.