“And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Genesis 9:12-17
And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
The sign of the rainbow was given to remind us of the Great Flood. This flood was God’s means to destroy all men – except for those who trusted Him for salvation by entering the ark. After saving Noah and his family in the ark, God instituted the rainbow as a sign to remind all mankind that the Flood was a real historical event, that Noah and his family were saved via the ark, and that such a Flood would never happen again.
So the rainbow is a reminder of the flood judgment; and a symbol, or picture, of God’s covenant promise not to flood the world again. The ark is a picture of the salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ. The rainbow is a reminder of God’s judgment and His grace. In God’s Word we are warned of the coming judgment of fire, which will be the second worldwide judgment of all who refuse to accept God’s free gift of salvation.
Whenever you see the colours of the rainbow, remember that it is only through Jesus Christ that you can have eternal life free from sin!