Banner

Banners and standards in ancient Israel served both military and religious functions. The Hebrew degel denotes the larger standards by which three-tribe divisions of the Israelite camp were organized in the wilderness (Numbers 1:52; 2:2–31), with four great standards marking the four quarters of the camp around the tabernacle. The nes (signal or ensign) was a pole raised on a high place as a rallying point for troops or as a signal visible from a distance. Moses raised a bronze serpent on a nes in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8–9).

The theological use of banner imagery is especially rich in the Psalms and prophets. God is called Jehovah-nissi — the LORD is my banner — at the defeat of Amalek (Exodus 17:15). Song of Solomon 2:4 declares that the king's banner over me was love, an image of protective and claiming love. Isaiah develops the eschatological use most fully: a root of Jesse will stand as an ensign for the peoples, and to it the nations will seek (Isaiah 11:10). The banner imagery thus moves from military organization to a messianic symbol of universal gathering.