The number 12 has an almost magnetic pull upon the human imagination. Indeed, 12 must rank with 3 as being one of the most culturally enduring and spiritually charged numbers. It crops up across civilizations, religions, and myths, not by accident, but because it symbolizes order, completeness, and the rhythm of human life under the heavens.
Consider first the tribes of Israel. The Old Testament repeatedly stresses that God’s people were gathered, organized, and represented through 12 tribes, each with its own inheritance and destiny. The number is not incidental but covenantal: It embodies the wholeness of Israel as a nation chosen and consecrated.
