The Lord uses this remarkable bird as an illustration of His grace! When Israel arrived at the border of Canaan, Moses rehearsed it in the ears of the people: “He found him in a desert land … He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him” (Dt. 32:10–12).

The eagle stirs up the nest because the baby eagle must be taught to fly. To hover over is to brood over, or to be attentive. No other bird cares for its young like the eagle. The little one is nudged out of the nest, and as it begins to fall the eagle swoops under it and catches it on its mighty wings before it crashes on the rocks below. How many times did the Lord not do this for Israel in the wilderness? And for us too? This is repeated until the baby eagle learns to fly. What a picture of the patient grace of our God! He emancipated Israel from under the cruel hand of Pharaoh and carried them on the mighty wings of His grace to Himself.

The eagle is also known for its keenness of vision. It can spot a rabbit two miles away. Think of the eyes of our Lord! “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13). Is it not a comfort to know that we are never out of His sight? He said to Moses, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt … So I have come down to deliver them” (Ex. 3:7–8). The eagle is fearless. It faces storms using the storm’s energy to lift it to greater heights, just as the Lord uses storms for our spiritual benefit.