A solemn agreement, such as the pact between Jacob and Laban (Gen. 31:44). God’s love and grace are shown in the readiness to make covenants with people. When God promised Noah that he would not again destroy the world with a flood, he made a covenant with him (Gen. 6:18; 9:9-17). A very important covenant existed between God and Israel (Exod. 24:1-8), which is pictured in the book of Hebrews as the “old covenant.” When the people repeatedly broke that covenant, God promised a new covenant based on forgiveness and the writing of his law on people’s hearts (Jer. 31:31-34). Jesus inaugurated this new covenant with his blood (Mark 14:24; 1 Cor. 11:25).

The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook, Walter A. Elwell, Editor, (Harold Shaw Publ., Wheaton , IL; 1984), p. 348