The Research Behind the Symbols
Tracing the visual language of Scripture from beginning to fulfillment.
Throughout Scripture, familiar images appear again and again—light and darkness, water and wilderness, bread and wine, shepherds and lambs, gardens and trees, crowns and thrones.
These images do more than illustrate individual passages. As they recur throughout the biblical narrative, their associations can deepen, develop, and illuminate the larger story of God’s revelation and redemption.
The research behind Forever Before You began with a practical purpose: to create a collection of Scripture-centered cards that would help people recognize, understand, and remember biblical imagery.
What began as an exploration of individual symbols gradually revealed something larger—a recurring visual language woven throughout Scripture, with familiar images carried forward, developed, and brought into new significance across the biblical story.
Rather than assigning meanings to images independently, the research followed their use within Scripture, examining how they were introduced, developed, reflected upon, and connected to Christ and His Kingdom.
Scripture remained the foundation throughout the process. Secondary biblical reference resources supported historical understanding, comparison, and verification, but did not replace the biblical text.
The result is a research foundation that informs the Bible Symbol Cards and the broader vision of Forever Before You: helping people learn God’s Word, remember Jesus, and live their faith.
Following Imagery Through Scripture
The research behind Forever Before You followed the biblical canon, examining how recurring visual imagery was introduced, developed, and carried forward throughout Scripture.
Rather than beginning with a predetermined list of 120 symbols, the process started with a broad exploration of biblical imagery and continued through eight research passes, from Genesis to Revelation.
Throughout the study, two guiding questions shaped the approach:
A systematic exploration from Genesis to Revelation.
Discovery — What is being introduced?
Is an important recurring visual image appearing in this portion of Scripture that should be considered for the collection?
Development — What is being deepened?
Does this passage significantly develop, reinterpret, or expand an image already identified elsewhere in Scripture?
This distinction helped the research remain focused. Not every new biblical event required a new symbol, and not every image originated in Genesis. Sometimes later passages introduced significant new imagery; other times, they added depth to images already established.
01 — Genesis: Establishing the Foundations
The research began by identifying visual images introduced in Genesis that continued to develop meaningfully throughout Scripture. Images associated with creation, covenant, humanity, judgment, and God’s promises provided much of the foundational vocabulary for later biblical imagery.
02 — Exodus Through Deuteronomy: Covenant and Deliverance
The exploration continued through the formation of Israel, the Exodus, wilderness experiences, covenant instruction, and worship. Images connected to deliverance, provision, sacrifice, sacred objects, and God’s presence introduced new dimensions while developing themes already established in Genesis.
03 — Historical Books: Development Through Israel’s Story
The Historical Books were examined for images introduced or significantly developed through Israel’s monarchy, worship, warfare, exile, and restoration.
An important observation began to emerge: later biblical narratives frequently deepened existing imagery rather than continually introducing entirely new symbols.
04 — Wisdom Literature: Reflection and Everyday Life
Wisdom literature brought familiar biblical images into the language of worship, wisdom, suffering, trust, and human experience.
Imagery previously encountered in narrative or covenant settings could now illuminate questions of faithful living, spiritual growth, and relationship with God.
The Eight Canonical Research Passes
05 — The Prophets: Judgment, Promise, and Restoration
The Prophets frequently drew upon established biblical imagery, carrying familiar symbols into messages of judgment, covenant faithfulness, restoration, hope, and Messianic expectation. Rather than abandoning earlier images, prophetic literature often developed their significance and carried them forward into promise.
06 — The Gospels: Fulfillment in Christ
With the arrival of the Gospels, the research considered how Jesus fulfilled, reinterpreted, and expanded established biblical imagery. Images such as the Lamb, Shepherd, Bread, Living Water, Seed, and Vine gained particular significance through Christ’s identity, teaching, and redemptive work. This revealed important connections between Old Testament imagery and the teaching and identity of Jesus.
07 — Acts and the Epistles: Application to God’s People
The research then examined how familiar biblical imagery was applied to the Church and the New Covenant community. Images such as the Body, Temple, Bride, Armor, and Cornerstone helped communicate the identity, worship, mission, and spiritual life of Christ’s people. Established imagery was being carried forward into the life of the Church.
08 — Revelation: The Final Biblical Vision
The final research pass examined how recurring biblical images appeared within Revelation’s vision of Christ, judgment, worship, victory, the Kingdom, and the New Creation. For the purposes of this project, Revelation appeared to gather many images established earlier in Scripture and bring them toward their final expression. The imagery of the Bride, New Jerusalem, God’s dwelling with His people, and the New Creation helped illuminate the culmination of the biblical story.
What This Approach Revealed
As the research progressed, a larger pattern began to emerge.
Scripture’s recurring visual imagery was not merely repeated. Across the biblical canon, many familiar images were developed, reflected upon, prophetically deepened, fulfilled or illuminated in Christ, and applied to the life of God’s people.
This observation became one of the most significant outcomes of the research.
The same images that help us understand individual passages can also help us recognize connections across the larger biblical story.
An Unexpected Pattern Emerged
What began as research for a practical card deck revealed a larger story.
The original purpose of the research was to develop a collection of biblical symbols that could be studied, remembered, and used in everyday life.
The larger pattern was not a predetermined conclusion.
As the research moved through Scripture, however, an increasingly recognizable movement began to emerge. Familiar images were introduced, developed, reflected upon, carried into prophetic promise, fulfilled or illuminated in Christ, and applied to the life of God’s people.
In Revelation, many of these established images appeared again within the Bible’s culminating vision of Christ, His Kingdom, and the New Creation.
This suggested that the development of recurring biblical imagery often reflects the broader movement of the biblical canon itself.
Seven Stages of Biblical Imagery
01 — Introduction | Pentateuch
Foundational visual imagery is established through creation, covenant, deliverance, worship, and the early biblical narrative.
02 — Development | Historical Books
Established images are developed through Israel’s history, monarchy, worship, exile, and restoration.
03 — Reflection | Wisdom Literature
Familiar imagery enters the language of wisdom, worship, suffering, trust, and everyday human experience.
04 — Prophecy | The Prophets
Recurring images are carried forward into messages of judgment, restoration, covenant faithfulness, hope, and Messianic expectation.
05 — Fulfillment | The Gospels
Jesus fulfills, deepens, and expands established biblical imagery through His identity, teaching, and redemptive work.
06 — Application | Acts & Epistles
Biblical imagery is applied to the identity, mission, worship, and spiritual life of Christ’s people.
07 — Consummation | Revelation
Much of Scripture’s established visual language is gathered into its culminating vision of Christ, His Kingdom, and the New Creation.
A Pattern, Not a Formula
This progression describes a broader pattern observed across the research collection. It does not mean that every individual symbol begins in Genesis, appears in every biblical section, or follows the same seven stages.
Some images enter Scripture later. Some are developed primarily in the Old Testament. Others find particularly significant expression in Christ’s teaching, the life of the Church, or Revelation.
The purpose of the framework is not to impose an artificial structure upon individual passages, but to recognize meaningful connections where Scripture itself establishes them.
The larger discovery was not simply that Scripture repeats familiar images, but that many of those images gather meaning as the biblical story unfolds.
From 201 Entries to 120 Bible Symbol Cards
A broad exploration, followed by intentional selection.
The research behind Forever Before You began with 201 working entries representing biblical images, places, events, sacred objects, roles, and theological themes.
The goal was not to begin with a predetermined number of cards, but to explore the recurring visual language of Scripture as thoroughly as possible.
As the research progressed, it became clear that some entries represented overlapping concepts, closely related images, or different expressions of the same biblical symbol.
Rather than treating every occurrence or related image as a separate card, the collection was refined through consolidation and prioritization.
This process reduced the original 201 working entries to 178 distinct, prioritized symbols.
Three Levels of Biblical Significance
The 178 symbols were then organized into three editorial tiers according to their biblical significance, recurring use, and development throughout Scripture.
20 Core Symbols
These represented some of the most foundational images within Scripture’s visual language.
Their significance and connections across the biblical story made them especially important to include in a broad introductory collection.
100 Foundation Symbols
These were strong recurring images with meaningful biblical development and substantial theological significance.
Together with the Core Symbols, they provided a broad foundation for exploring Scripture’s imagery.
58 Major Symbols
These were also important biblical images, but many were more specialized or less essential to the first physical collection.
They were preserved for possible future development rather than dismissed as insignificant.
The Selection of Version 1
The final editorial decision brought together the 20 Core Symbols and 100 Foundation Symbols to create the first 120-card Bible Symbol Deck.
The remaining 58 Major Symbols were retained as candidates for future exploration.
The result was a collection intended to balance biblical depth, thematic breadth, and practical usability.
Each selected symbol became part of a Christ-centered learning resource, bringing together original artwork, five Biblical Meanings, and a short Living Truth.
The purpose was never simply to collect 120 images. It was to create a meaningful foundation for exploring the visual language of Scripture.
From Research to a Biblical Journey
An intentional arrangement shaped by Scripture’s larger story.
The research behind Forever Before You revealed meaningful connections among recurring biblical images, but translating that research into a practical collection required another important step.
After the original 201 working entries were refined and the 120 symbols for Version 1 were selected, the question shifted from which symbols belonged in the collection to how they should be arranged.
Rather than organizing the cards alphabetically or simply grouping similar objects together, the collection was designed to follow an intentional biblical and thematic journey.
Eleven Groupings, One Larger Story
The 120 Bible Symbol Cards are arranged into 11 groupings that move through major themes of Scripture.
The journey begins with God Revealed, introducing images associated with who God is and how He makes Himself known.
It continues through The Story of Redemption, exploring imagery connected with humanity’s need for redemption, God’s promises, and His saving work.
From there, the collection moves through worship and God’s presence, Kingdom and authority, identity and covenant, and the sacred objects and everyday images that carry meaning throughout Scripture.
The journey then turns toward provision, living creation, and the created world that declares God’s glory.
Finally, the collection moves through growth and fruitfulness before concluding with Kingdom Fulfilled, pointing toward the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom and the culmination of the biblical story.
Together, these 11 groupings provide a framework for exploring the selected symbols as part of a larger Christ-centered narrative.
Two Distinct Forms of Progression
An important distinction lies at the heart of the project.
The seven-stage canonical progression was an observation that emerged during the research.
It describes how recurring biblical imagery often develops across Scripture—from introduction and development through reflection, prophecy, fulfillment in Christ, application to God’s people, and consummation.
The 11-part deck progression was an intentional editorial arrangement.
It organizes the 120 selected symbols into a meaningful thematic journey for the reader.
The first describes a pattern observed through biblical study. The second provides a practical framework for exploring the finished collection.
They are related, but they serve different purposes.
Designed for Exploration, Not Restriction
The cards do not need to be studied in numerical order.
Each symbol can be explored individually through its biblical references, five Biblical Meanings, and Christ-centered Living Truth.
Yet when the collection is viewed from beginning to end, the intentional arrangement offers another way to appreciate the larger story of Scripture.
What began as a practical effort to make biblical imagery more accessible became a collection shaped by both careful research and purposeful design.
The research followed the imagery through Scripture. The deck brings those discoveries together in a journey of learning, remembrance, and faith.
Continue Exploring the Symbols
From biblical research to everyday remembrance.
The research behind Forever Before You began with a desire to make Scripture’s recurring imagery easier to recognize, understand, and remember.
What emerged was more than a collection of individual symbols. The research revealed meaningful connections across the biblical story and inspired a practical way to bring those discoveries into everyday life.
Yet the purpose of this work has never been simply to identify patterns or gather information.
It is to encourage a deeper familiarity with God’s Word and to help biblical truths remain present in our thoughts, prayers, and daily experiences.
A tree, a doorway, flowing water, or a loaf of bread may become a reminder of something we’ve encountered in Scripture—not because the object carries a hidden message, but because God’s Word has given us truths worth remembering.
Through the Bible Symbol Cards, the expanded Scripture Reference Library, and other Christ-centered resources, Forever Before You invites you to continue that exploration.