Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, protecting me on this journey that I am making, and giving me bread to eat and clothing to wear, Genesis.28.20  

 Ohr HaChaim The proper explanation of what Jacob said is that he was prepared to conduct himself in such a way that G'd would consent to associate His name with him even during his lifetime.   

R' Bachya Yaakov wanted to teach his future offspring that the time to make vows is when one finds oneself in difficulties one does not know how to extricate himself from. Although, as a general rule, the Torah frowns on the making of vows, when a person vows due to finding himself in distress this is perfectly permissible. 

 וַיְהִ֕י כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר יָלְדָ֥ה רָחֵ֖ל אֶת־יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יַעֲקֹב֙
אֶל־לָבָ֔ן שַׁלְּחֵ֙נִי֙ וְאֵ֣לְכָ֔ה אֶל־מְקוֹמִ֖י וּלְאַרְצִֽי׃ 

After Rachel had
borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back to my own
homeland.  

כאשר ילדה רחל את
יוסף WHEN RACHEL HAD BORN JOSEPH — after the birth of him who was to become
Esau’s adversary (Genesis Rabbah 73:7) — as it is said (Obadiah 1:18) “And the
house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame and the house
of Esau for stubble“. Fire (Jacob) that has no flame (Joseph) has no effect at
a distance. Therefore, when Joseph was born Jacob put his trust in the Holy
One, blessed be He, and wished to return home (Obadiah 1:18).  

Rashi explains
that Rikvah had sent Devorah to get Ya’akov to tell him it was safe to come
back as she had promised. And Yishak sent two servants  

Rashi explains that she was there
because Rebecca was fulfilling a promise she made to Jacob 36 years earlier. As
her son was departing to Charan,
she told him, “I will send for you and bring you from there [and bring you
home].”5 Sending Deborah to her son was her way of keeping
her promise to send for him and bring him home.  

The Medrash (Esther Rabba 7:9) tells us that it is a
reference to a conversation that occurred between Mordechai and the servants of
the King. The King’s servants asked Mordechai, why do you refuse to bow down to
Haman especially in light of the fact that your ancestors bowed down before the
ancestors of Haman? Mordechai asked, 'Which of my ancestors bowed down
before the ancestors of Haman?' The King's servants replied, 'Did not
your ancestor Yaakov bow down before Eisav his brother, who was Haman’s ancestor?'Mordechai
answered, 'I am descended from Binaymin and when Yaakov bowed down before
Eisav, Binyamin was not yet born and he did not bow down before any human all
his days... Just as my forefather did not bow to Eisav, I who hail from the
tribe Binyamin ('ish yemini') will not bow to his descendant
either.'  

 The
Gemara in Megilla (17a) teaches that Yosef disappeared from his father for
twenty-two years 'mida k'neged mida,' corresponding to the twenty-two
years that Yaakov did not honor his parents while he was in Lavan's house. (The Gemara in Megillah 16b teaches that
Yaakov was not punished for the fourteen years he spent learning in Yeshivas
Shem V'Ever as Rabba said in the name of Rav Shmuel Bar Marta 'The study
of Torah is greater than honoring parents' - see also Shulchan Aruch Yoreh
Deah 240:13) 

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