Even after all these years, the remarkable story of Nelson Mandela is fascinating. He went from prisoner to prime minister and chose forgiveness and reconciliation over vengeance. At one point, there was a charity drive that wanted to produce art based on Mandela’s palm print. To everyone’s surprise, one of the handprints simply revealed what looked like a map of Africa on his palm. It fascinated people since Mandela had a great love of the continent of Africa and his home country of South Africa.

This reminds us of Isaiah 49:16, in which God says, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” While the original message deals with God’s people in Jerusalem, the idea has been handed down to apply to the church. Recall these words from the hymn, I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord:

I love thy church, O God:
her walls before thee stand,
dear as the apple of thine eye
and graven on thy hand.

It has also been applied to individual Christians in the hymn, Before the Throne of God. One of the verses says this:

My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart;
I know that while with God He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart