The Waters Divided: Genesis 1:6-8

The second day began with waters everywhere—above, below, all around. The primordial deep still churned, undifferentiated, a world drowned before it was born.

God spoke again: "Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water."

And space opened.

Imagine the waters pulling apart like curtains, an expanse forming between them—waters above held aloft by nothing but the word of God, waters below settling into their appointed depths. The ancient Hebrews called this expanse raqia, something beaten out and stretched like hammered metal, a dome of sky arching over the world.