Is there also in the Old Testament anything indicating that Jesus Christ would rise precisely on the third day?
According to Christ himself, the prophetic type of the third day was set forth in the Prophet Jonah: “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jon 1:17); “Jonah the prophet was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mat 12:40; see Q029). The “third day” appears throughout the Old Testament as the day of divine visitation and fulfillment (Lev 19:6; 1Kg 12:12; 2Kg 20:5): “Be ready by the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people” (Exo 19:11, 16); and Abraham “on the third day” lifted up his eyes and saw the mount of sacrifice where Isaac was received back “as a figure” of the resurrection (Gen 22:4; Heb 11:19).
In the prophecy of Hosea, the raising up of Israel on the third day points to the true Jacob, the true Israel, who is Christ himself, and to us in him: “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us… After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hos 6:1–2).
