This is the Akeda – the binding of Isaac.
Genesis 18:1-22:24
Here Abraham, about to carry out the command of Hashem to sacrifice his son, has tied Isaac’s hands and feet and put him on the logs and stones they had both set up for a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. What is fascinating is that Isaac was not young, as usually assumed, but was actually 40 years old when this occurred.
Above Abraham to his left is the angel Satan holding Sarah in the sky. Satan had objected to the idea of creating man in the first place as he warned that this being would pursue evil. Knowing that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his beloved son was a commitment beyond expectation, Satan tried to stop it a number of times, finally lifting up Sarah into the sky so she could see what was about to happen and scream out a “no.” On the top right the archangel Michael is heading to stop Abraham and below him caught in the thicket is a ram that will later be used as a substitute sacrifice.
