If the Island was Jacob's inheritance from Crazy Mother, why was it so important he bring the 815ers to it? Jacob was a supernatural being; the evidence shows he was more than 200o years old, that he could change appearance, and that he could communicate in the flesh after being killed and burned to ashes after Ben's murder of him in the statue.
So one of the great unanswered questions is whether Jacob actually died at all. In the great con double crosses and misdirections afforded in the dead end plot tangents, we never see Jacob cease to exist. After his death, he appears to Hurley as set forth in Lostpedia:
He appeared as a boy once more to Hurley, demanding that Hurley give him the ashes. Hurley asked why and the boy replied, "because they're mine." Once Hurley took them out, he snatched them and ran. By the time Hurley caught up, Jacob appeared as an adult, next to a fire, which he had thrown his ashes in. Hurley gathered Jack, Kate and Sawyer and brought them to Jacob.
The four of them were able to see Jacob this time. He apologized to Kate, who blamed him choosing Candidates for the deaths of their friends on the submarine. Jacob told them that he made a mistake, which made the monster the way he is and explained the reason for the Candidates. Sawyer asked why he should have to suffer for Jacob's mistake when he was doing just fine until Jacob interfered with his life. Jacob pointed out that none of them had happy lives, they were all flawed, which is why he chose them, because they were all like him, alone looking for something that they couldn't find.
Jacob was a shape shifting supernatural being. He appeared as a boy, as a man, and as a dead man. He could of also appeared as a smoke monster (which would answer the question why he could not kill MIB because they were both equal smoke monsters; one viciously bad and another more cautious - - - remember scanning Juliet in the mangrove roots instead of killing her?) Or Jacob could appear as another person, never to die - - - like Mikhail, the Russian who we saw "die" multiple times but to return to harass the 815ers.
It would seem inconsequential for a super being like Jacob to toy with the lives of inferior beings like the 815ers. Unless, as the beach scene with MIB infers, he was bored with his temporal existence.
For all of the religious ramifications at the End Church, there was nothing truly redeeming in the Jacob and Candidates story line. The Candidates and friends who wound up at the church for the after life journey were still murderers, adulterers, liars, thieves, criminals, drunks, drug abusers and down right dark personalities - - - who also committed similar acts of violence, betrayal, sex and lies while on the Island seeking Jacob's judgment.
If Jacob's real goal was to be a heavenly prosecutor to determine the weight of each character's soul, then Jacob is a symbol of Lucifer, the fallen angel in early Judeo-Christian beliefs. He is the con artist who messes with God's new species of Man, by setting in motion the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. And what if the Island was a similar setting; an after life con that offers the characters a chance of redemption when in reality there is none.
We are led to believe that the characters in the church are going to heaven when Christian opens the white light of the doors. However, prior to that, Jack asks his father what is next. The answer is unclear, just that they are going to "move on." It is equally probable that the souls of the church goers could go to heaven (which is the happy ending) or to hell (the unseen finish of a long con).
If would be the perfect diversion for Lucifer to give souls "false hope" of redemption; a cause to fight for; a chance for final happiness in a warped sense of a juvenile game of combat soldier with changing rules or little consequence. If Jacob was really a Lucifer in disguise, how does that make you view the Ending differently?
