In our experience, covenant is a legal term that we seldom use and barely understand.  Trent Hunter and Stephen Wellum have an excellent definition of covenants in Christ from Beginning to End.

“What exactly is a covenant?  Covenant is an older word that has fallen largely out of use today.  It refers to a means by which we structure a relationship.  Our contemporary word contract is the most familiar way we structure relationships today, and a covenant and a modern contract have some similarities.

But a contract and a covenant also have important differences.  While a contract involves a relationship for the sake of obligations, a covenant involves obligations for the sake of a relationship.  A covenant is a chosen relationship between two parties ordered according to specific promises.”

Christ from Beginning to End

The only covenant we have experience with today is marriage.  Biblical marriage is a covenant because it forms a relationship between a husband and wife, according to specific promises they make to each other.

God’s Covenants from Adam to David

God made a series of covenants with specific people and groups in the Old Testament – with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel (through Moses), and David.   They all lead up to the new covenant we just mentioned.  Each successive covenant gives us a little more insight into how God will accomplish his plan to be our God and make us his people.  And each one narrows the focus onto who will finally accomplish it.  If we imagine God’s plan for redemption as a gemstone with multiple facets, each of the Old Testament covenants shows us a facet of his plan.