Maui, Hawaii, 2005

The tires punched the water from the potholes as we bounced along in our rented convertible Jeep. The mid-afternoon rain in Maui had just passed, leaving clouds of steam hovering over the narrow two-lane highway. My husband, Jim, and I had just turned off the main highway to look for a shortcut through the foothills back to our hotel.

The first cut-off was a small rural road with an open field to the left and an incline heading south along the side of a hill to the right. As we started to climb, two rainbows appeared over a field on the horizon in the east.

I am always captivated and excited to see rainbows. So, I kept my eye on them as we continued our winding ascent until they were no longer visible. I noticed only a few scattered houses lined the country road. Driving for a short time, we came to a roadblock. The dirt road ahead had been washed out and a sign had been posted: “No Trespassing! Road Closed! Residents Only!”

We sat for a moment, trying to decide whether we should take our chances and continue forward or turn around. Jim argued it was for this very reason we had rented a Jeep, to tackle the off-road terrain. I, on the other hand, was feeling more cautious, reminding him about the last time we had ignored a “closed road” sign. It had been when he was driving a four-wheel-drive Nissan Pathfinder at June Lake Loop during the winter when the snow was at its highest; we almost slid into the lake. It took us more than 3 hours to complete what should have been a half-hour drive.

He reluctantly conceded and turned the Jeep around. Within a minute or two of back-tracking, one of the rainbows came back into view. To our amazement, the end of that rainbow had turned and planted itself right in the middle of the road.

Jim stopped the Jeep as we contemplated what to do next. We agreed to say our blessings; -then while holding hands we rolled through it, very slowly.

Neither of us had ever heard of anyone coming in contact with the end of a rainbow. A rainbow is most often viewed as a circular arc in the sky from the collection of suspended droplets of water in the atmosphere. It is geometrically rare to come in contact with the end of a rainbow because of the way they are formed when water droplets in the atmosphere refract or bend sunlight. A person would have to catch the water droplets from just the right angle in order to see them. Whenever someone is looking at a rainbow, the sun is directly behind that person and the rain is in front. So, seeing the end of the rainbow seemed quite remarkable especially considering the rare double rainbow we had just seen minutes before on the other side of the road arched at a different angle.

For years after our encounter with the rainbow, I prayed to know its significance and meaning. I had heard the pot-of-gold stories. Then I found out the rainbow represents God’s covenant with the earth. This is the sign or reminder, the Lord gave to Noah to help him remember how merciful the Lord was to him. (It is written that the seven colors of the rainbow represent the seven spirits of God.)

Genesis 9:12–16 reads, “And God said, ‘“This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”’

The rainbow also represents the likeness and the glory of Jesus, through whom the new covenant was established at his death and resurrection. Revelation 4:3 says, “And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.”