In Genesis, God places a rainbow in the sky as the sign of the covenant with Noah and the survivors of the Flood.
After Noah leaves the ark, he builds an altar and offers sacrifices. God then establishes a covenant with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature that a flood will not again destroy all life on earth. The rainbow is presented as the visible sign of that promise.
The passage gives the rainbow a theological meaning within the narrative. It is not described merely as a weather phenomenon, but as a reminder of the covenant whenever it appears in the clouds. The promise extends beyond Noah’s family to animals and the earth itself.
A common mix-up is to associate the rainbow with the dove’s olive leaf. They occur in different parts of the story: the dove’s leaf signals receding waters, while the rainbow appears after the Flood as the covenant sign.