This devotional explores a connection I noticed between Joseph’s coloured tunic, white light passing through a prism, the rainbow around God’s throne, the twenty-four elders in Revelation 4 and a twenty-four-hue colour wheel. It preserves the excitement of my original 2015 discovery while distinguishing Scripture, optical science and personal symbolic interpretation.
I was reading Panorama of the Old Testament, an A3-size book I had obtained from Koorong, when this chain of connections began unfolding in my thoughts. I felt it continued an earlier insight about the Scriptures testifying of Jesus.
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.”
Joseph, Jesus and a pattern across Scripture
As I pondered Joseph’s story, I remembered Christian teaching that presents Joseph as a biblical pattern pointing toward Jesus. The two lives are not identical, but the parallels can help readers see how themes of rejection, suffering, exaltation and deliverance develop across Scripture.
| Pattern | Joseph | Jesus |
|---|---|---|
| Beloved | Especially loved by his father (Genesis 37:3) | Declared the beloved Son (Matthew 3:17) |
| Rejected | Hated and sold by his brothers (Genesis 37:18–28) | Rejected by His own (John 1:11) |
| Exalted | Raised to authority in Egypt (Genesis 41:39–44) | Exalted after humbling Himself (Philippians 2:8–11) |
| Life preserved | Used to preserve many lives during famine (Genesis 50:20) | Gives eternal life to those who believe (John 3:16) |
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
What Joseph’s many colours stirred in me
I began wondering whether the many colours of Joseph’s tunic could be read devotionally as a picture of the many nations and the many kinds of sin for which Jesus gave His life. This is my symbolic reflection; Genesis 37 does not assign that meaning to the tunic. Even the ancient Hebrew description of the garment is translated in different ways, so the NKJV phrase “tunic of many colors” is the particular wording that prompted this meditation.
I also wrote that humanity carries God’s “gene colours.” I now understand that best as poetic language, not biology. Scripture teaches that humanity is made in God’s image and that God is light, but it does not teach that God has human genes or that spiritual identity can be measured as literal colour.
White light, the prism and the rainbow
A prism gave me another visual doorway into the subject. White light contains a range of visible wavelengths. Because different wavelengths bend by different amounts as they pass through a prism, the light spreads into a visible spectrum.
I loved the thought that a glass prism must be positioned at an effective angle for the spectrum to become visible. Devotionally, that reminded me to approach Scripture attentively, patiently and from more than one narrow assumption. The physical angle does not prove a hidden biblical code; it simply became a metaphor that encouraged deeper study.
A natural rainbow is more complex than light passing once through a prism. Sunlight is refracted as it enters a water droplet, reflected inside the droplet, and refracted again as it leaves. Those processes separate the visible wavelengths for the observer.
The rainbow around God’s throne
“And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.”
Revelation then describes twenty-four thrones around God’s throne, occupied by twenty-four elders clothed in white and wearing golden crowns (Revelation 4:4). The rainbow and the surrounding elders became the centre of my colour-wheel meditation.
Revelation describes a rainbow around the throne and twenty-four elders around it, but the chapter never calls the arrangement a colour wheel. The “throne-room map” is my visual comparison and prayerful interpretation, not a doctrine stated in the biblical text.
Why the twenty-four-part colour wheel caught my attention
I remembered teaching associated with John Paul Jackson that compared the twenty-four elders with twenty-four hues around a colour wheel. When I looked more closely at the wheel I had saved, I saw a pale centre surrounded by named colours and began picturing white light at the centre, colour radiating outward, and the elders encircling the throne.
The fact that this particular wheel contains twenty-four hues is striking beside Revelation 4:4, but colour wheels can be divided into different numbers of segments. Therefore, the numerical match can inspire meditation without proving that every colour wheel is a concealed blueprint of God’s throne room. Yet hint his fingerprint beneath all.
The deepest treasure is not that a diagram can prove heaven’s architecture. It is that Scripture, light, colour and creation can awaken us to look again, ask better questions and worship the One whose wisdom is greater than the portion we can presently see.
Colour, callings and the gifts of the Spirit
I wondered whether people might be recognised in the spiritual realm by a “colour calling,” or whether the different gifts of the Holy Spirit might shine like different colours when Jesus is revealed through His people. This remains an open imaginative question. Scripture teaches that the one Spirit distributes different gifts according to His will, but it does not assign a colour to each gift, however, my personal question still remains valid, perhaps each gift does come with special colours and we just cannot see due to our weak, and puny eyesight.
“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
The rainbow as covenant sign
The Bible first identifies the rainbow as God’s covenant sign after the flood. Its direct biblical meaning is His promise that the waters would never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The New Testament later speaks of the present heavens and earth being reserved for fire and judgment; these are separate biblical teachings and should not be collapsed into the rainbow itself.
“I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”
For the later reference to fire and judgment, read 2 Peter 3:7. The rainbow itself remains the Genesis sign of covenant mercy.
The circle we do not usually see
A rainbow is geometrically a complete circle centred on the antisolar point. From the ground, the horizon usually hides its lower portion, leaving us with the familiar arc. From an aircraft or another high viewpoint, the full circle can sometimes become visible.
The aircraft photograph in my earlier post showed a much smaller ring around the aircraft’s shadow. That phenomenon is called a glory, not a full-circle rainbow. Both are beautiful optical effects, but they are formed differently.
The scientifically accurate full-circle image still carries the devotional lesson that first excited me: from where I stand, I may see only an arc, while God sees what I cannot. The photograph does not prove that spiritual claim; it gives me a vivid picture through which to remember it.
My eyes may see only half the bow and part of the story. God is not limited by my horizon. He knows the beginning, the hidden middle and the end, so I can keep seeking His wisdom without pretending that my present interpretation is the whole picture.
God’s fingerprints in wisdom and creation
This reflection taught me to search for God’s fingerprints in Scripture, creation and my own life—and then to respond with worship rather than certainty about every symbol. The Bible celebrates the wisdom of God’s works:
- Psalm 104:24 marvels at the multitude of God’s works made in wisdom.
- Proverbs 3:19 says the Lord founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
- Job 28:23 reminds us that God understands wisdom’s way and knows its place.
Perhaps the joyful invitation is not to force creation into a secret code, but to remain alert to echoes that lead us back to Scripture, humility, wonder and praise. That is still exciting.
Questions for reflection
- Where have I mistaken the part I can see for the whole picture?
- Does a symbolic connection draw me closer to the clear teaching of Scripture, or distract me from it?
- How can the variety of spiritual gifts deepen unity rather than comparison?
- What part of God’s wisdom in creation fills me with worship?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the beauty of light, colour, covenant and Your Word. Teach me to notice Your wisdom without claiming more than You have revealed. Help me recognise Jesus throughout Scripture, honour the different gifts You place in Your people and trust You with the parts of the picture I cannot yet see. May every discovery lead me into humility, truth and worship. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Frequently asked questions
Does Revelation 4 say that God’s throne room is a colour wheel?
No. Revelation 4 describes a rainbow around the throne and twenty-four elders on surrounding thrones. Comparing that arrangement with a colour wheel is a devotional interpretation, not an explicit biblical statement.
Why does this colour wheel have twenty-four hues?
Warren Mars designed the Martian Colour Wheel with twenty-four named hues and five tonal rings. Other colour wheels use different numbers of divisions, so twenty-four is a feature of this particular model rather than a rule of colour science.
Is every rainbow a complete circle?
The rainbow’s geometry forms a circle around the antisolar point, but the ground and horizon usually block the lower portion. Under suitable conditions, an observer at altitude can see the full circle.
Does the Bible assign colours to spiritual gifts?
No. First Corinthians 12 teaches that the same Spirit distributes different gifts according to His will, but it does not give those gifts a colour system.
Topics Covered: Joseph’s tunic of many colours, Joseph as a picture of Jesus, white light and prisms, how rainbows form, the rainbow around God’s throne, Revelation 4, the twenty-four elders, the Martian Colour Wheel, spiritual gifts, Noah’s covenant, full-circle rainbows, Christian symbolism and biblical discernment.
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