Celebrating 12 Days of Christmas-Day 5

My internet search for the meaning behind a lot of the 12 days of Christmas after the Holy Innocents and up to the day of Epiphany seems to get blurry at best with different ideas and a lot of Catholic references that I don’t follow. So, I’m falling back on the Christmas Carol for inspiration.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

In the carol, the Five golden rings verse has a long pause once you get to the next days of the song. Perhaps then, this is an important pause in the celebration.

Previously I had read somewhere that the biblical meaning behind the number 5 was Grace and Gold seems to get a lot of references in the bible. Part of Revelation 21:21 states that …”the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.” In Genesis 2:12 it says, “And the gold of that land is good…”Finally, the bible references the signet ring often in scripture. According to bible-history.com,

“The “signet ring,” also known as a “seal” comes from the Hebrew word “hotam” and the Greek word “sphragis” and was used universally in the ancient world. It was a portable instrument used much like we use a signature today, but much more important. They would seal or stamp a document, or the door of a house, or a tomb, etc. It was also an emblem of authority.”

So the three together could possibly be a very basic snapshot of what it means to follow Christ–He provides the grace for us to understand His promises, like streets of gold, and He even signs his promises with a signature.

Much to pause, and ponder about.