Sorreisa Church,North Norway

The original church in Sørreisa was built on this site in 1844. The church building was octagonal and it was designed by the architect Christian H. Grosch.

That church building burned down in 1987 and a new church was built on the same site in 1992.

The new church is a square-shaped church that is larger than the old church. The interior of the new church has an octagonal-shaped sanctuary in the center of the square building that corresponds to the outline of the old church.

The artist visited the building prior to designing the artwork. The original building had been octagonal as a reference to the 8 biblical people who followed God's promise and survived destruction.

The artist used the biblical record of God's first promise as inspiration for the work: "“This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13... I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth" Genesis 9:12,13.