“I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. … And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” Genesis 9:13-16
A rainbow surrounds God’s throne in the heavenly throne room. (Rev.4; Ezekiel 1:28)
The rainbow stands above Christ’s head. (Rev.10)
Jehovah calls it “My bow,” not “a bow” or “the bow.” (Gen. 9:13) This gives it a past history before He set it in the sky.
There is more substance to its meaning than what we know about Noah and God’s promise to never cover the earth again with water.
We learn that when God sees the bow in the sky, He remembers His covenant of mercy with us. It’s not just for our remembrance!
“When man by his great wickedness invites the divine judgments, the Saviour, interceding with the Father in his behalf, points to the bow in the clouds, to the rainbow around the throne and above His own head, as a token of the mercy of God toward the repentant sinner.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 106-110 ff.)
And God remembers this covenant constantly because He has surrounded His throne and His head with the rainbow.
The picture this shows of God is that He has completely enmeshed Himself with us and our covenant. So that day and night, no matter what business comes before His throne, He is thinking about us and the mercy that He has promised to show toward us.
I have always said, “God signed the covenant in the blood of His own Son to show the depths of His intention to keep His side of the contract.” The rainbow tells the same story. God intends to show us mercy, so He has surrounded Himself in the bow to have a constant reminder of His covenant.
When Jesus looks at the Father, He sees the bow. When the Father looks at the Son, He sees the bow. And not only do they keep us ever present in their minds this way, when we look to the sky and see the bow, we join in with them in a perfect trio of unity.
The rainbow is the symbol of mercy. God placed it in our sky, above His throne, and surrounding His head so that none of us will forget that we are joined together in a covenant of love.
