I'd like to explain the events in the recent parshiyot, using colors to explain some of what is happening behind the scenes:
I will refer to Esav (Esau) as red, and Lavan (Laban) as (predictably) white.
Red - Esav
Esav at birth is described (Bereshit 25:25) as "admoni"- red. Rashi brings this down to show us that Esav will soon grow up to be murderer. Samsan Raphael Hirsch explains that the color red is a symbol for freshness and life. A baby that has a reddish look is said to have healthy blood and show vigorous life.
Later on (25:30), Esav will prove his name as "Edom" (red)- and will start a nation named for this color. In other places in the Tanach (Yeshayahu 1:18), the color red is used to describe the color of sin. If the sin is forgiven it is said to be whitened.
Is there anything good about the color red?
Obviously, there must be a good side to it. We also see that from day one Yaakov is trying to catch Esav's heel. He is trying to grasp on to the "red".
That red is the color of life. It symbolized this world and its powers. Yaakov, by buying the bechora (birthright), and receiving the bracha from Yitzchak is trying to have his spiritual life combined with all of the forces of this world.
This is a very great challenge, with much danger lurking. He eventually has to run away from Esav, run away (temporarily) from this world's redness.
White - Lavan
The color white is almost the complete opposite.
White symbolizes the color of heaven and the world of the angels. That is why we wear a white kittel on Yom Kippur (Remma, Orach Chayim, 610:4). The repentance process is described as a whitening one .
By running away to Lavan- Yaakov becomes irrelevant in this world. Esav doesn't continue to chase him because Yaakov loses all of his money and is considered dead (See Rashi 29:11).
A white page is also called a "blank" page. In Hebrew this is also called "chalak ''- smooth, which is the exact word that describes Yaakov. Esav, on the other hand, is described as being hairy. (27:11). The Midrash (Tannaim, Sifri, Devarim 26) even brings an interesting statement that Yaakov went to Aram to be "lost from this world". This can also explain why there was so much cheating going on at Aram, the place of Lavan, because there was no respect given to rules and boundaries. When someone cheated there they were simply oblivious to reality (Actually, Yaakov "stealing" the Brachot also displays a lack of awareness of reality...).
Obviously, this cannot be a permanent solution. Yaakov must establish a family and nation in Eretz Yisrael. He must face Esav- and in this world.
In an interesting way, once Yosef is born, Yaakov feels he is now capable of facing Esav (Bereshit 30:25). Right after doing so, Yaakov will give Yosef a colorful coat known as the "Ketonet Passim" (Bereshit 37:3. This is a symbol of Yaakov's return to the full life of color which reminds him of his yearning to fulfill his and Am Yisrael's destiny.