The amount of cash value inside your whole life insurance policy will help to determine how much you may take out as a loan.
Usually, whole life insurance plans may allow you to take out up to 75-80% of the cash value as a loan.
That means, if 80% is the limit, and you have $5,000 of cash value in your whole life insurance policy, you may take out $4,000 as a loan from your policy.
The insurance company charged you an interest rate on the loan and the entire amount you pay back usually goes into your cash value.