In biblical accounts, doves often symbolize peace, innocence, and the Holy Spirit. After the great flood, a dove released by Noah returned with an olive leaf, signaling the end of God's judgment and the beginning of a new era of peace, as recorded in Genesis. The Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John also feature doves, notably in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at His baptism, where the Spirit is described as descending like a dove. Isaiah looks forward to a time when God's people will be gathered, comparing them to doves flying back to their nests, highlighting the gentle and peaceful nature of God's redemption.
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Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark. Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him.
But if she cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.