The Easter Hyperlinks

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One Mountain. Three Moments. One Story.

Scripture is full of hyperlinks connecting multiple people, moments, and stories to each other. You know how the Bible will sometimes quietly tie threads together across centuries? How a place or a phrase shows up again, and suddenly you realize you’ve been standing in the same story all along? Well, this one has to do with a mountain.

Actually, one mountain ridge and three distinct moments in history:

Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah.

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Jesus’ crucifixion on Golgotha.

They are not random, feel-good bedtime stories. They are not loosely or vaguely connected. They form one continuous story of God’s redemptive plan.

1. Abraham and Isaac — The Pattern Begins in Genesis 22

In Genesis 22, God calls Abraham to offer his beloved son Isaac on “one of the mountains in the region of Moriah.”

You may be familiar with the story: The elderly Abraham was promised a son, and Isaac is the eventual fulfillment of that promise. Years later, Abraham rises early with the intent to sacrifice his son to God in obedient response to God’s command. Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice. The son walks beside his father up the mountain. Isaac asks the question that has echoed through centuries:

“The fire and wood are here… but where is the lamb?”

Abraham answers with words far more prophetic than he could have realized:

“God himself will provide the lamb.”

At the climax, just as the knife is raised, God intervenes. Not a lamb—but a ram is caught in a thicket. A substitute is provided. Isaac is spared.

And then God says something astonishing:

“Now I know that you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love.”

But consider as we look ahead to Calvary and say:

God, it is now we who know that YOU love us.For you did not withhold your Son, your only Son, whom you love, from us.

Here in Genesis 22, key themes are introduced that the rest of Scripture will build upon culminating to Calvary which we could only truly recognize in the rearview mirror:

• The beloved son — “your only son, whom you love.”

• The place — Mount Moriah.

• Substitution — a ram dies in place of the son.

• A prophetic promise — “God Himself will provide the lamb.”

  
  

But notice something: in Genesis 22, God provides a ram, not a lamb, despite what Abraham asserted. 

Although God did provide a substitute, the lamb is still missing.

The sentence hangs in the air for centuries. A prophecy awaiting fulfillment for generations.

2. The Temple Mount — The Pattern Becomes a System

Centuries later, that same region—Moriah—becomes the location of Israel’s temple.

In 2 Chronicles 3:1, we are told that Solomon builds the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.

The very place where Abraham nearly offered his son becomes the centre of Israel’s worship.

On this mountain:

• Priests offer sacrifices daily.

• Animals die in place of the people.

• Blood is shed again and again and again.

• The lavish mercy and awe-inspiring holiness of God meet.

As the author of Hebrews later explains, priests “stand and perform their religious duties again and again; they offer the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (Hebrews 10:11).

The entire sacrificial system is built on the pattern first seen with Abraham and Isaac.

Substitution is institutionalized.

But something is still incomplete.

Every lamb that died on that mountain whispered Abraham’s ancient words:

“God himself will provide the lamb.”

And yet the people were the ones providing the lambs. The cost of the sacrifice was on the people. 

The ache remained.  

3. Golgotha — God Provides the Lamb

Just outside the city walls of Jerusalem sits a hill called Golgotha. It rests within the same mountain ridge system—part of the broader region historically associated with Moriah. And here, everything converges. God providing a lamb goes far beyond what the Sacrificial System required.

Jesus, the True and Better Son

Like Isaac, Jesus is:

• the beloved Son

• carrying the wood on his own back

• walking in obedience to his Father’s will

• ascending a mountain to be sacrificed

But where Isaac is spared, Jesus is not. No ram appears in the thicket. No voice stops the execution. This time, the Son is not withheld.

Jesus, the Greater Substitute

In Isaac’s place, a ram died.

In our place, Jesus died.

He is the Lamb Abraham spoke of.

He is:

• the Lamb of God (John 1:29)

• our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7)

• the once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10)

On the very mountain where God once said, “I will provide,” He does. He provides his own Son. The foreshadowing becomes fulfillment.

The Scandal of the Cross

And yet, I don’t want to gloss over this. I don’t want to sanitize it. Human history is filled with innovative ways to end a life.

GuillotineElectric chairLethal injection

Crucifixion

The list goes on…

We wear crosses now in gold and silver, delicate and polished. But let’s not forget what it was.

The cross was a Roman invention—reserved for the worst criminals and if you were privileged enough to be a Roman citizen, your citizenship protected you from receiving this death sentence because of how shameful it was. It was not even discussed among the elite in Roman society. It was designed not merely to kill, but to humiliate.

And into that context comes the declaration of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Contrast this with the view of the Jews—absolutely scandalous. They expected power, conquest, visible triumph. The thought of their enemies being overcome by the Messiah on a cross was humiliating.

To the Greeks, it was absurd. They wanted to make sense of these matters using logic, philosophy, intellectual strength.

A crucified God?

How foolish.

And honestly, not much has changed.

The ancient piece of graffiti known as the Alexamenos graffito—dating from the first few centuries AD—depicts a man worshipping a crucified figure with a donkey’s head. The inscription mocks: “Alexamenos worships his god.”

Christianity was not considered sophisticated. It was laughable.

But Paul insists: We preach Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews. Foolishness to Gentiles.

But to those who are called? The power and the wisdom of God.

You still have to decide where that lands for you.

Is it embarrassing?

Is it intellectually thin?

Is it naïve or archaic to believe that the saving power of the universe was displayed in a dying man on a Roman cross?

The Battle Was Won There

We often gravitate toward the empty tomb—and rightly so. Resurrection matters. It is where we find the proof that sin and death were defeated on the cross.

But Scripture is clear: the decisive blow was struck at the cross.

As Colossians 2:14–15 declares, Christ disarmed the powers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross. The resurrection is proof. The cross is victory. That’s why we wear a cross and not a tiny cave around our necks!

In Revelation 5, John looks and hears that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed.

He hears about a lion. But when he turns, what does he see?

A Lamb, looking as though it had been slain.

Strength revealed as sacrifice.

Power revealed as surrender.

Victory revealed as death.

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.

One Continuous Story

Mount Moriah (Genesis 22) — a beloved son, a substitute provided.

Temple Mount — repeated, seemingly endless sacrifices, waiting for something greater.

Golgotha — the final Lamb, once for all.

Foreshadowing.

Preparation.

Fulfillment.

One mountain.

One promise.

One Lamb.

“On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

And it was.

That’s why Good Friday is not foolishness to us. It is not merely an instrument of torture. It is the place where sin was dealt with, shame was absorbed, and death was disarmed.

It is the place where we can finally say:

Now we know that you love us.

For you did not withhold your Son.

What’s in the Ears

This is the part where I share a song or podcast I’m currently into. In honor of the lamb who was slain, I give you Passion’s Resurrection Song featuring Kari Jobe. Let me know if you check it out!

If this stirred something in you, share this post with a friend or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what small step you’re taking towards the flourishing life today! And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.