The number twelve is a significant number in the Bible. You may have wondered, what does the number 12 mean in the Bible? God is a God of details and Biblical numbers do have spiritual significance. When the Holy Spirit had the writers of the Bible use a number, it is not only because the number accurate, but there are also deeper meanings to each particular number The study of the meaning of numbers in the Bible is called Biblical numerology.
Bible scholars say that the number twelve is the number of completeness, divine order, and/or governmental order. God is a God of both power and order in in His ruling, and He uses the number twelve numerous times and in specific instances throughout His Word. Many times, the study of numbers in the Bible both answers some questions while it gives rise to others.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Significant Old Testament Mentions
The number twelve appears all throughout the Bible, with the first mention of the number twelve is found in Genesis 14:4. “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.” (KJV)
This verse is both the first reference to the number twelve and the number thirteen. The meaning of the number twelve here is governmental order and is seen in this verse. For exactly twelve years, ancient peoples who lived and ruled during the time of Abraham served King Chedorlaomer. This verse also shows the Biblical meaning of the number thirteen, which is associated with rebellion.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Ishmael’s and Jacob’s 12 Sons
God promised Abraham a son. However, Abraham and his wife, Sara, childless in their advanced years, did not believe God, so Abraham fathered a son with his servant girl, Hagar. This son was named Ishmael. When God told Abraham that Sarah also would have a son, Abraham, instead of believing what God had said, asked God to bless Ishmael.
God’s grace to both Abraham and Ishmael are recorded in Genesis 17:20. “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” (KJV)
God promised Ishmael that his sons, all twelve of them, would be princes, and that these princes would eventually become a great nation.
Nevertheless, God did not forget Abraham’s promised son, Isaac, and his blessing. Isaac later fathered a son, which he named Jacob, and Jacob, like Ishmael, had twelve sons. The sons of Jacob were, by order of birth, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. These twelve boys grew up and became the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel.
Out of Isaac, through his son, Jacob, God also created a great nation — Israel.
The twelve tribes of Israel are the foundation of the nation of Israel. The symbolic meaning of the number twelve, relating to the governmental order of the tribes of Israel, is seen in God’s Word throughout the Old Testament. The number twelve, in relation to Israel, is a promise of God of both completeness and order.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Symbolism in the Tabernacle
The tabernacle was the worship facility that God direct Moses to construct. God wanted His people to worship Him, and the tabernacle was His dwelling place among His people. Before the children of Israel assembled the tabernacle, God met with Moses on Mount Sinai to instruct him as to how to lead the people of Israel. After this meeting, Moses built an altar with twelve pillars, as recorded in Exodus 24:4. “And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” (KJV)
Bible scholars say the altar mentioned in this passage represented God’s throne with the twelve pillars representing the tribes of Israel. God made a covenant between Himself and the nation of Israel.
God then chose priests to attend to the duties of the tabernacle. The priests had special clothing to wear, which, at least for the high priest, included some very special ornaments. The high priest wore a golden breastplate in which were twelve different precious gemstones, each stone representing a tribe of Israel. Exodus 28:21 explains this special ornament. “And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.” (KJV)
Another verse that explains the high priest’s breastplate is Exodus 39:14. “And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.” (KJV)
Wearing this special breastplate, the high priest symbolically represented the entire nation of Israel when he went into the most holy place of the tabernacle to offer blood of the animal sacrifice to cover the sins of the people of Israel.
Inside the tabernacle, God told Moses to make twelve loaves of unleavened bread. This represented fellowship between God and the twelve tribes of Israel. “And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.” Leviticus 24:5 (KJV)
The priests baked these twelve cakes of bread new and fresh every morning, which symbolized spiritual food.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — The 12 Spies
Moses, after God helped him lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, sent twelve men, one out of every tribe, to search the Promised Land. Moses recorded this command in Numbers 13:1-2. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.” (KJV)
The twelve spies represented the entire nation of Israel. Their evil report from the majority, ten out of the twelve men, mirrored the lack of faith of the entire nation. Only two of the spies trusted God enough to help them in the new land that God had promised to them. The ratio of two verses ten could be interpreted to indicate that only two twelfths of the entire group of Israelites truly trusted God.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Jordan’s Stones
When the children of Israel finally did enter the Promised Land after the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, and by that time under the leadership of Joshua, they had to cross the Jordan River. God miraculously parted the river, similar to what He did at the Red Sea. Then, God told Joshua that after all of the Israelites were safely over Jordan, he was to pick out twelve large stones from the riverbed and place them on the shore. Here is the Biblical account:
“And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.” Joshua 4:3 (KJV)
“And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.” Joshua 4:8 (KJV)
“And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.” Joshua 4:9 (KJV)
These twelve stones, which were collected from underneath the Jordan River, was a silent reminder of the power of God to each one of the twelve tribes of Israel as they entered into the new and unknown land. The same God Who stopped the river was the same God Who would help His people in this new land.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Elijah’s Altar
Many years later, the prophet Elijah had a showdown with idol worshippers of Baal as to who worshipped the true God. When the prophets of Baal could not get their god to answer them, Elijah calmly prayed to the living God, the God of Israel. But before he prayed, he built an altar, a symbol of the throne of God. His altar consisted of exactly twelve stones. The Bible records this in 1 Kings 18:31. “And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name” (KJV)
The twelve stones not only symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, but also the covenant God had made with them as a nation.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Twelve Minor Prophets
There are twelve minor prophets who have self-named books in the Bible. These are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These prophets are considered “minor,” not because their message was of low importance, it was not, but because their books are short as compared to the four “major” prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
Why there are exactly twelve minor prophets is unknown. But in this case, the number twelve could indicate completeness. God used all twelve of these men, each in a different way, to bring His message to the twelve tribes of Israel.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Jesus’ Ministry
The number twelve appears several times in the New Testament associated with different aspects of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible — The Child Jesus
Other than the birth of Jesus Christ and when He started His public ministry, the Bible is silent about His life between those years. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit revealed a single glimpse of His childhood with an incident when He was twelve years old.
Jesus, along with Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, which was a Jewish tradition.
“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.” Luke 2:41-43 (KJV)
On the way home, Mary and Joseph realized that Jesus was not with them. After searching futility for Him, they return to Jerusalem and three days later they found Him in the Temple, conversing with the learned men of the day.
Read the full account in Luke 2:41-52.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — The Miracles of Jesus
When Jesus was on Earth, He did many miracles, some of which are recorded in the word of God. In some of the Gospel accounts, the writers included the number twelve for our consideration.
Jairus’ Daughter and the Bleeding Lady
Two miracles that Jesus did, very close together, both had the time frame of twelve years.
Jesus was asked to come and heal a girl who was dying that was twelve years old. But while He was on His way, a woman who had uncontrolled bleeding for the last twelve years knew that Jesus could heal her. So, she came behind Him and simply touched the hem of His garment. She was healed in that instant.
After the bleeding lady was healed, Jesus went and raised back to life the girl who was twelve years old.
It is unclear as to why the Holy Spirit had the Gospel writers for both of these ladies record the exact time span of twelve years, yet He did.
Read the full accounts of these two miracles in Mark 5:22-43 and Luke 8:41-56.
Feeding of the Five Thousand
On of the best loved miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ was when He took a boy’s lunch of five loaves and two fishes and fed a multitude of people. This act is recorded in all four Gospels. Read the account of the Apostle John in John 6:4-13.
After everyone had eaten and was satisfied, there were exactly twelve baskets of leftovers. Scripture is silent as to what exactly happened to those leftovers. Some theories are that each one of Jesus’ apostles got a basket to take home for themselves. Others had the idea that perhaps the twelve baskets were sent home to the boy’s family, either to eat, sell, or both.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? – The 12 Apostles of Jesus
There were many people who followed Jesus while He engaged in His public earthly ministry. Notwithstanding, He needed to have certain followers who would spread His message after He returned back to heaven. After praying to His heavenly Father, He gathered all of His disciples to Him. From that large group, He chose twelve men and called them “apostles.” This is how Luke relayed this incident in Luke 6:13. “And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles” (KJV)
This group of twelve men, chosen to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, were very important. After Judas Iscariot both betrayed Jesus and then hanged himself, Peter and the rest of the apostles realized that there needed to be a replacement. There needed to be twelve men, not eleven.
The eleven apostles believed God directed them to choose a man by the name of Matthias, as related in Acts 1:15-26, summarized in Acts 1:26. “And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (KJV)
But God had His replacement, which was not Matthias, but rather, the Apostle Paul. Paul identified himself as an apostle nine times. Romans 1:1 is one of the times that he mentions that he is an apostle. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” (KJV)
Other than these twelve men, there were no other individuals among all of God people who were called an “apostle.” There were only and exactly twelve apostles.
These twelve special men, a picture of governmental completeness, have important eternal duties. Jesus told them this in Matthew 19:28. “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (KJV)
The future role of the twelve apostles will contribute to a perfect government.
What Does the Number 12 Mean in the Bible? — Prophecy
The number twelve is prominent in the Book of Revelation, which gives a view into future things. Here are some of the mentions of the number twelve in Bible prophecy.
The 144 Thousand Servants of God
In Revelation chapter 7, God showed the Apostle John that He chose and sealed one hundred and forty-four thousand servants to proclaim His Word, which is recorded this in Revelation 7:3-4. “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” (KJV)
The number one hundred and forty-four is the square root of the number twelve. This group of God’s servants consisted of twelve thousand men from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Later, in the Book of Revelation, God shows the same group of men in Revelation 14:1. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” (KJV)
The New Jerusalem
In the future city of New Jerusalem, the number twelve is prominent. This is how the Bible describes the New Jerusalem, including the high wall surrounding it, in Revelation 21:10-14.
“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (KJV)
In the describing the New Jerusalem, the number twelve could be considered an “angel number” because of this intriguing verse in Revelation 21:17. “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.” (KJV)
The Apostle John saw that the foundation of this great city was complete with twelve foundations, which were garnished with twelve different, precious stones.
“And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.” Revelation 21:19-21 (KJV)
The New Jerusalem has exactly twelve gates. Each of these gates are a single pearl, according to Revelation 21:21. “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” (KJV)
The Tree of Life
Another curious part of the future kingdom of God is the tree of life. It is speculated that God took this tree out of the Garden of Eden and eventually returned it to heaven. In the future it will produce twelve types of fruits — a different kind every month!
“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2 (KJV)
This article about the meaning of the number 12 in the Bible is not an exhaustive study. But I hope it has given you a better and deeper understanding of the biblical significance of the number twelve.
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