ENGRAVED IN HIS HANDS

Engraved on His Hands

Isaiah 49:16 – “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”

There are few things more personal than our hands. They carry the fingerprints of our identity. They bear the scars of our life story.

Hands are where work is done, where comfort is given, and where love is shown. When we hold something or someone dear, we hold them close, often, in our hands.

So when God says in Isaiah 49:16, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my Hands,” He isn’t just offering poetic comfort. He’s declaring something sacred, something Eternal. He’s showing us how deeply and permanently we are connected to Him.

He didn’t say, “I wrote your name on My hand” as someone might jot down a reminder. No, He said “graven”—a word that means carved, etched, engraved. Something permanent. Something that leaves a mark.

And centuries later, those engraved Hands would come in the form of scarred Hands, pierced by nails on a wooden cross.

The prophecy spoken and written in Isaiah would be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

After His resurrection, when Jesus appeared to Thomas, He didn’t point to His face or His robe or even His crown. He held out His hands. The very evidence of His love was the nail prints. The scars that tell the story of redemption and restoration.

“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands…”

—John 20:27

That moment was more than proof of identity, it was a declaration of fulfilled prophecy.

In those scars, we were engraved. On that cross, we were marked forever in the hands of our Savior. When God says in Isaiah, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands,” it’s as if He was pointing ahead to Golgotha, where Jesus would stretch out His arms and allow nails to pierce through flesh, for you and for me.

Our names are not written in ink that can smudge. They are not penciled in with the option to be erased. We are engraved in the scars of Jesus, in the place where love met pain, and Grace triumphed over sin.

Those hands still bear the marks.

He didn’t erase the scars after He rose. He kept them. Why? Because they are more than a memory. They are a message. They say, “This is how much I love you. This is what you’re worth to Me.”

This truth is spoken to a people who felt abandoned. In the verse just before, God’s people cry out: “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14). But God answers with something so intimate and reassuring:

“Can a woman forget her sucking child…? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” (v.15)

And then comes the promise:

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”

Even when we forget Him, He never forgets us.

Even when we drift, He remains steadfast.

Even when the world changes, His love stays the same, engraved forever in the hands that were pierced for our salvation.

Jesus also said in John 10:28:

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

If you are in His hand, and your name is engraved there by love, nothing and no one can remove you. His grip is strong. His scars are the seal. His love is unshakable.

So the next time you wonder if God sees you…

When life gets heavy and you feel alone…

When the noise of the world tries to drown out your hope…

Remember this: Your name is written in the scars of Jesus.

You are engraved in the hands that gave everything to hold you forever.

He doesn’t just carry your name. He carries your pain, your purpose and your future.

And He will never let you go.