Rainbow

The rainbow (qeshet in Hebrew, the same word as bow for a weapon) was designated by God as the sign of his covenant with Noah and all living creatures after the Flood — a pledge that the waters would never again destroy all flesh (Genesis 9:12–17). The bow's appearance in the clouds was to serve as a visual reminder both for humanity and, as the text frames it, for God himself: when I see the bow in the cloud, I will remember my covenant. The image of a warrior hanging up his weapon in the sky has been read as a symbol of divine restraint — the bow of judgment laid aside.

The rainbow appears in prophetic and apocalyptic literature as a symbol of divine glory: Ezekiel 1:28 describes the brightness surrounding the divine throne as the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day. Revelation 4:3 depicts a rainbow (iris) around the throne in heaven, and the mighty angel of Revelation 10:1 has a rainbow over his head — images that identify the figure with the creator God of the covenant.