The Context

When Yaakov escaped with his family from Lavan’s home, he ferried them across the river, then, “Yaakov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.” (Bereishis 32:25) There are two conflicting interpretations of Yaakov’s being left alone:

1. He had forgotten small bottles on the other side of the river and returned for them. (Rashi)

2. The Midrash says, “Just as G-d is described as ‘alone,’ in the verse, ‘and G-d is exalted, alone,’ so was Yaakov alone.”

The first explanation sees Yaakov’s isolation as a pedestrian event, the second, as an allusion likening Yaakov’s transcendence to G-d’s. How is the thematic link between these two interpretations?