Every time we look to the sky, witness the clouds parting, and see in the place of the storm a rainbow—be it a single or double—we are to be reminded of God’s promise. It is a sign of hope that though sin, evil, and wickedness will face God’s judgment, his justice will not be executed through a flood. Instead, the Bible tells us that God will enact justice upon sinful humanity.

We have all looked up after a storm and seen the bow of color stretching across the sky. The red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet arch catches our attention and draws our eyes to its beauty. The appearance of a single rainbow might make us think of rainbow flags, a good omen, or the Rainbow Bridge from Thor. Regardless, this natural phenomenon is common enough, that even though we’ve marveled at the colors, we’re not surprised when that bow appears. We are, however, still surprised by a double rainbow.

These are less frequent. When they appear, people take pictures, record videos, post them online, and stare in awe. When we see this rare phenomenon we might think of how one appeared over Buckingham Palace at the death of Queen Elizabeth II or perhaps Norse mythology.

Scientific Explanation of the Double Rainbow

The scientific explanation for why a double rainbow occurs is that light travels and is reflected twice, not just once, inside water droplets. The actual appearance of a second rainbow isn’t the only unique occurrence. When the second bow appears, it displays its colors in an order reversed from the first rainbow. It truly is an uncommon and beautiful sight.

Common Speculations about the Double Rainbow

Due to this beauty of nature and the rarity of a double rainbow appearing in the heavens, it’s not surprising that some would speculate that it has some sort of deeper meaning. We’re long past believing that the rainbow brings forth good luck or that at the end of a rainbow, one will find a pot of gold. Yet we wonder if there are spiritual or symbolic meanings associated with it.

Since humanity has looked at the sky, we’ve considered the possibility that the stars, planets, comets, and colors might tell us about God, the world, and our place in it. Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps 19:1). The opening chapter of Romans declares, “For [God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Rom 1:20). Thus, we look to the heavens and we see evidence of God.

Is There a Biblical Explanation for the Double Rainbow?

However, when searching the Bible about the phenomenon of the double rainbow we find that God’s word is silent. There isn’t a single place in scripture where we come across any spiritual meaning of a double rainbow. No biblical character mentions this phenomenon in any way. The lack of Biblical acknowledgment doesn’t mean that we should conclude that the double rainbow is a modern occurrence about which the ancient world was ignorant. It’s more appropriate to conclude that its appearance is of no more significance than the single rainbow, about which the Bible does speak. For the remainder of this article, I’ll focus on the biblical meaning of the rainbow and attribute that meaning to the double rainbow.

The Rainbow’s Appearance in the Book of Genesis

The first occasion a rainbow appears in the Bible is in the book of Genesis chapter nine. This is the story of Noah. Here, God spoke to Noah and said, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Gen 9:13). The verse does not use the specific language of “rainbow.” Yet, it’s clear from the context that the “bow” of Genesis 9 is what we know as the “rainbow.”

Context

The bow first appears following the great flood. This is a story that even those not familiar with the Bible or church have heard before. God sent rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. He submerged the whole earth with water because the wickedness of mankind had become so great. In Genesis 6 we read, “The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart” (Gen 6:5-6). As a result of seeing the pervasiveness of evil, God decided to bring about a new beginning and blot out humanity and even animals from the earth (Gen 6:7).

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