Was the consecration time of three days at Mount Sinai a foreshadowing of the three days Jesus was in the grave? Where else is three days in the Bible and is it significant?
The period of three days occurs in 61 verses throughout the Bible. Three days is a significant time period within the Scriptures. The most well-known three-day period was the death and resurrection of Jesus.
In Exodus 19:9-15, the people of Israel are about to meet the Lord God Almighty on Mount Sinai. But before God comes down on the mountain in his presence and glory, he institutes a three-day period of consecration. During this time, the people are expected to wash their clothes, have no sexual relations, and other restrictions.
Before God’s presence will come down on the mountain, the people must be holy so that they could exist in God’s holy presence. There may be some significance between the presence of God coming down on the mountain in the presence of Jesus in the resurrection.
But there are so many events throughout the Bible that contain a three-day period that I doubt there is any connection between all of them. There may be minor connections between two or three events but because there are so many three-day events, it would be hard to find a connection between all of them.
The number three is extremely important throughout Scripture. For everything from the Trinity two days, months, and even years that are significant, “three” usually has significance when you come across it.
Like the number seven, three is also a number of completion and perfection. This doesn’t make it a number that should be venerated. It is simply significant in many situations throughout the Bible.
As far as its connection between major biblical events such as the consecration of Israel before Mount Sinai and the death and resurrection of Jesus, I see few connections. The closest connection would be the symbolic meaning of the number three, the consecration of completeness after three days and the complete work of Jesus from death to resurrection after three days to guarantee not only salvation from sin but also resurrection of the body.
