Jacob’s ladder
Jacob’s ladder is a ladder which the Biblical Jacob sees in a dream, with angels ascending & descending on it. The verse uses a rare word for “ladder”, סלם slm. Like the word shalom, this puns with שעלם š-ˁlm, which means “making secret” or “that which is secret”.
Since Jacob puns with “spy” & “deceit”, Jacob’s ladder would be the “secrecy of spycraft & deceit”.
And as angels are literally “messengers”, it could be the messengers from above who are using this strategy. Angels also pun with “kings” & “rulers”, so it could even be the rulers themselves.