The first reference to the Tablets in Exodus 24:12 says tablets of stone. The only stone in context is lapis. The connective evidence for this is found in Numbers 15:38 where God commands his people to make tassels for the corners of their garments and to incorporate a blue thread to remind them of the Commandments. For many years thereafter the Hebrews went to great trouble and expense extracting a blue dye from the bodies of snails found in the nearby sea for the purpose of coloring this thread.

Jesus wore such a tassel. Even today, since 1948, the flag of the nation of Israel is blue and white, the two main colors found in lapis.

When you ask modern Jews why their flag is blue, they will say those are the most common colors of the prayer shawl. Why is the shawl blue and white? They revert back to Numbers 15:38, it is to remind them of the law. I am convinced that the “tablets of stone” were in fact lapis - possibly pavers pulled up from the very pavement upon which the throne was sitting. It is interesting to note that he was not on a slab but a pavement which suggests many smaller cut tiles cemented together.

Now that I had established the color, what was the font? Again time for a Google search. That was a dead end because the written Hebrew language did not exist at the time of the exodus.

I consulted some scholars at local universities, but they couldn’t give me a direct answer. Things were very murky and complex. It would cost money to proceed. I did not have unlimited funds to commit to this research, so I shelved the project.

On a trip through the mountains, I happened upon a rock store and found some beautiful little lapis stones.I bought a few stones. I decided that I wanted to keep one of these stones on me, like a tassel. I paid a jeweler to set one of the stones in silver to make a keychain. It cost $150! Assuming others might also want keychains, I got into the art of gemstone wire wrapping. After becoming proficient at making keychains and jewelry, I now wanted to focus my energy on the tablets.

Some time had passed and I went back to Google. This time I found the font! All the research had been done by a Canadian Ph.D., Douglas Petrovich. He had published a book in 2016 called The World’s Oldest Alphabet. I called him and told him what I was planning to do. He was okay with it. Then I ordered the book.

It was not an easy read. Here’s what I think it says. When the Hebrews first went into Egypt during a seven year famine, they were welcomed by Joseph, a fellow Hebrew who was by then the Prime Minister of Egypt. The Hebrews were invited to stay and got into to the semi-precious stone business. They left Egyptian style hieroglyphic writing on rock faces in the place where they were mining turquoise. Because of the unusual arrangement and references to specific Hebrews in the glyphs, Dr. Petrovich and other scholars concluded that these glyphs were the work of ancient Hebrews and in fact the world’s first alphabet. He credits Joseph and his two sons with creating it using existing Egyptian hieroglyphs. That is why we see snakes and bulls heads among other symbols. It is rather stunning to think that these symbols appeared on these sacred tablets. Remember, I’m just a house painter, doing my job. Dr. Petrovich was not available to help me to find the actual words in the original font to write the actual laws. I did find on Google where an associate of his, Steve Rudd, a Canadian minister, had put the symbols together to show how the original tablets might have looked. I went with his version and had the font digitized into a computer for the purpose of cutting with a laser the glyphs which appear on my tablets shown above.

Although I can’t say the glyphs are the correct words, of the original Tablets, I think I can at least claim to have the correct font and color. I believe these to be the closest likeness, however imperfect, that exists in the world today.