A covenant is the extension of kinship by oath, a way of making someone a member of your family. By way of six specific covenants recorded in the Sacred Scriptures, God made human beings members of His family. The first is the covenant with Adam and Eve at the creation of the world, and wounded by their fall into sin. The second covenant is with Noah at the time of the Flood. The third is the covenant with Abraham, the father of Israel. The fourth is with Moses at the time of the Hebrew Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The fifth covenant is with David, the King of Israel. The sixth and greatest covenant is the New and Everlasting Covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ. This covenant is celebrated and renewed with a sacrificial meal, which Christ instituted at the Last Supper with His Apostles. The previous covenants and the figures associated with them point forward to Jesus Christ and His New Covenant. This “pointing forward” is known as “typology” — the study of types and images that represent some other, greater reality.