Safaite Rock Drawing Found in the Desert East of Amman, Jordan

Shepherds driving their flock into a fortified sheepfold erected to protect the animals from marauders. Extended walls shield the narrow entrance; a Safaite rock drawing found in the desert east of Amman, Jordan.

Throughout the NT, sheep are used in a figurative sense for human beings. Jesus speaks of “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6; 15:24; cf. Isa. 53:6) and has compassion on a crowd, which he considers to be like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36). Sheep also play a role in several parables of Jesus (12:11; 18:12; Luke 15:2–6), and the Gospel of John pictures Jesus as a protecting shepherd, willing to give his life for his sheep (10:7–9; cf. Ezek. 37:24; Ps. 23:1; Heb. 13:20). Jesus indicates that at the final judgment the Son of Man will separate the nations of the earth as a shepherd separates sheep from goats (Matt. 25:32). He is himself compared to a sheep led to slaughter (Acts 8:32; cf. Isa. 53:7).

Köhler-Rollefson Ilse U. “Sheep.” Ed. Mark Allan Powell. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) 2011 : 947–948. Print.