12 (Twelve)
The number twelve stands in the corpus for governmental perfection: the number of divine administration, institutional order, and authoritative completion. Bullinger regards it as the fourth and final of the four perfect numbers. Jones connects it through the Hebrew letters Yod-Beth (hand of the house) to divine authority and apostolic government. Noordzij approaches twelve from two angles: as the number of election to ministry with divine authority (HP) and as the foundation for the one hundred and forty-four thousand as eschatological overcomers (AN).
Biblical References
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Gen. 49:28 | The twelve tribes of Israel; Jacob blesses his sons |
| 1Kgs. 19:19 | Elisha plows with the twelfth yoke; call to ministry |
| Matt. 10:1-2 | Twelve apostles called and sent out |
| Lev. 24:5 | Twelve loaves of bread set out in the sanctuary |
| Rev. 21:12 | Twelve gates and twelve angels of the New Jerusalem |
| Rev. 21:14 | Twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles |
| Rev. 21:17 | Wall of one hundred and forty-four cubits: twelve times twelve |
Symbolism in the Corpus
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger describes twelve as “the number of divine government and institutional order,” the fourth perfect number. As evidence he cites the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve apostles, the twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve months of the year, and three hundred and sixty degrees of a complete circle (twelve times thirty). The apostles are grouped into four clusters of three. Jesus was twelve years old at his first recorded words in the temple. 1
Stephen E. Jones
Jones describes twelve as the number of “governmental perfection and divine authority,” derived from the Hebrew letters Yod-Beth. He writes: “Twelve sons of Jacob; twelve apostles; twelve foundations in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14); twelve gates, twelve angels, twelve pearls (Rev. 21:12, 21); wall of one hundred forty-four cubits (= twelve × twelve) (Rev. 21:17).” Jones counts twelve anointed individuals in the Old Testament: five priests and seven kings. The twelfth mention of Jesus’ name in the Gospel of Matthew falls at the command “You shall worship the Lord your God” — the core of his governmental calling. [^b-jones-BMN]
In The Struggle for the Birthright, Jones explicitly frames twelve within the structure of the New Jerusalem: “The New Jerusalem has twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on them. There are also twelve pearls (Rev. 21:21).” For Jones the twelve gates connect the governmental architecture of the earthly redemptive community — twelve tribes — to the eschatological city, while the wall of one hundred and forty-four cubits (= twelve × twelve) expresses the final ordering of God’s people. [^b-jones-SftB]
Cees and Anneke Noordzij
Noordzij approaches twelve from two perspectives. In De hand aan de ploeg slaan he reads the twelfth yoke with which Elisha plowed (1Kgs. 19:19) as a numerical symbol of divine election to ministry: “The number 12 points in the Bible to election to a ministry with divine authority: 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 12 foundations and 12 gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, 12×12,000 firstfruits for God and for the Lamb. With the twelfth yoke: foreknown and elected to the exercise of a ministry with divine authority.” In his treatment of the one hundred and forty-four thousand (Rev. 7:4 and 14:1) he writes of the “chosen sons of God” who will “deliver the whole creation from the bondage of corruption.” The number one hundred and forty-four thousand rests on the governmental foundation of twelve: twelve times twelve times a thousand as the expression of complete victory in the eschatological fulfillment. 2 [^b-noordzij-b2]
In Bread and Wine (BW), Noordzij situates twelve within the Passover context, where in each of the twelve households of Israel a lamb was slaughtered and the blood was marked on the doorposts for protection of the firstborn. This twelvefold structure of households continues through the Lord’s Supper feast where Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover meal, but where Jesus elevates the old ritual to spiritual fulfillment. The number twelve thus remains governmentally operative: it determines the architecture of God’s people in both covenants — under the law through the twelve tribes and one lamb per house, and in grace through the new Passover where Jesus himself is both the lamb and the bread for his people. [^b-noordzij-b9]