The Seven Days of Creation: Symmetry & Meaning

In a previous post, I showed how the seven Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1 were deliberately patterned after the likeness of the golden candlestick (menorah) that stood in the tabernacle (Exod. 25:31–40). What I did not mention in that study was that this peculiar design of the opening verse of Genesis—and of the Bible itself—is not without purpose. This was not merely an expression of divine creativity, nor was it done for decorative effect. It was done deliberately with a very targeted intention—for this verse functions as both a microcosm and an interpretive key for the account of the seven days of Creation that follows it, the Creation Week itself being fashioned according to the very same pattern.

The Menorah Pattern in the Seven Days of Creation

Because the golden candlestick is crucial to understanding the pattern and design of both the seven Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1 as well as the seven days of Creation, it is important to make sure that we have a firm grasp of the very meticulous way that the seven lamps of the golden candlestick were numbered.¹ Note carefully:

Note that I have incorporated the blue-purple-red color scheme above to help make the inherent bilateral symmetry of the golden candlestick’s design more evident. As can be seen, the golden candlestick contains three pairs of branches (Exod. 25:35-36). Each pair of branches consists of what I term a “former branch” (blue) and a “latter branch,” (red) which extend out from opposite sides of the the central shaft that unites them.

We can easily see from observing the menorah that its three pairs of branches are self-evident–branches 1 & 4 constitute a pair, branches 2 & 5 constitute a pair, and branches 3 & 6 constitute a pair. The central shaft, which is numbered 7, is the only arm of the candlestick which has no corresponding “partner.” It is wholly unique and set apart from the six branches that it unites and fills with oil.

The Seven Days of Creation and the Menorah Pattern

Like the seven Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1, the seven days of creation have also been deliberately designed according to the organizational schema of the golden candlestick. The table below reveals which arm of the candlestick each of the seven days corresponds to in this schema:

Note that I have the text of the column corresponding to the central shaft colored purple here. This is because, the central column functions as a joiner of the three pairs of branches–and is a perfect blend of the two sides it unites. However, it is important to remember that it always gets counted with the first three branches (which is why I will sometimes color it blue rather than purple in many of the tables).

Three pairs of days

Most Bible students are unaware of this, but there is a very meticulous pattern that is present in the Seven Days of Creation as described in Genesis 1-2:3. A close analysis of the biblical narrative reveals that the first six days of Creation described in Genesis 1 actually function as three pairs of days. Just as the golden candlestick contains three pairs of branches–each consisting of what I term a former branch and a latter branch, so too the three pairs of days consists of what I refer to as a “former day” and a “latter day“. The seven days of Creation exhibit the exact same symmetry and pattern as the golden candlestick–being fashioned in the likeness of it.¹

The three pairs of days are self-evident: days 1 and 4 constitute a pair, days 2 and 5 constitute a pair, and days 3 and 6 constitute a pair. These identifications are easily discernible when you pay attention to the works that God creates on each of the six days in Genesis 1. Essentially, the works that God created on each day-pair’s former day, are designed to prophetically foreshadow similar works that he would later create on said pair’s corresponding latter day. I have created the figure below to help to make this point clear. Behold:

As can be seen, the light that God created on Day 1 prefigured his later creation of the heavenly luminaries (Sun, moon, and stars) on Day 4–as the latter were created (in part) “to divide the day from the night” (Gen. 1:14; cf. 1:18), both of which were created on Day 1.

Similarly, the separation of the lower and upper waters on day 2 prefigured the creation of the birds and sea animals who would inhabit the waters above (the atmosphere) and the waters below (the oceans) that he separated on day 2.

Days 3 and 6 are unique in that God spoke twice on these two days, and thus we have two separate correspondences on this pair of days. First, the creation of the dry land on Day 3 foreshadowed the creation of the land animals and insects to inhabit that land on Day 6. Secondly, the creation of the fruit-trees, grass, and other plant life on Day 3–foreshadowed the creation of man on Day 6, who would be responsible for dressing and cultivating those fruit-trees and plant life (Gen. 2:15).³

What we essentially have here is a pattern whereby the works created on days 1, 2, and 3, function as figurative harbingers of more literal works that will be created on days 4, 5, and 6. The lesson that God is attempting to convey to the reader here is that he always shows you what he is going to do, before he literally does it (Isa. 42:9). He does this by always providing a figurative demonstration of some more literal thing that he will do at a later time. The purpose of doing this is to establish the truth of the latter by the witness of the former (John 13:19; 14:29). This is something that I refer to as the Principle of Form and Fulfillment, and it is a key interpretive principle that is necessary to understand the Bible as a whole–as all of biblical prophecy operates in accordance with this divine principle.

One of the central purposes of designing the seven days of Creation this way and placing this account on the first page of the Bible is to introduce you–the Bible reader, to this interpretive principle. Think of it as God handing you the keys that he knows will be necessary to properly interpret the rest of the Bible.

Final Thoughts on the Seven Days of Creation

The same pattern and symmetry of the golden candlestick that we observed in the seven Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1 is likewise present in the seven days of Creation. Just as the Menorah was designed with three pairs of branches united by a central shaft, so the Creation Week consists of three pairs of corresponding days joined by a single sanctified day at the center. The three pairs of days correspond to the Menorah’s six branches, while the seventh day of rest—set apart from the other six—corresponds to the central shaft, which is holy and distinct from the branches it unites.

Each of the three pairs of days contains both a former day (1, 2, and 3) and a latter day (4, 5, and 6). In every case, the works God performed on the former day foreshadow and find their completion in the works He performed on its corresponding latter day. Through this, the seven days of Creation offer a beautiful introduction to what I call the Principle of Form and Fulfillment—a divine pattern of logic and symmetry that reveals how God acts throughout history.

1. The truth that the Seven Days of Creation have been deliberately designed in the likeness of of the golden candlestick is further reinforced by a hidden Bible code in Exodus 20:11, which I discovered three years after I wrote this post. ↩︎

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1. For an additional witness that this is how the lamps were numbered, see this video