What sign did God place in the clouds after Noah's Ark came to rest?

After Noah's Ark and the flood, Genesis identifies a rainbow as the sign of God’s covenant. In Genesis 9, God places the bow in the clouds as a reminder of the promise never again to destroy all living creatures with a flood.

The rainbow belongs to the covenant section that follows Noah’s departure from the ark. It is not described as the event that guided the ark to land; instead, it is a visible sign associated with the promise made afterward. This distinction helps separate the rainbow from the dove that Noah sends during the search for dry land.

The passage gives the rainbow a theological meaning within Genesis, while rainbows also have a well-established natural explanation: sunlight is refracted, reflected, and dispersed by water droplets. The biblical story uses the familiar atmospheric phenomenon as a covenant sign and connects it with a universal promise involving the earth and living creatures.