In the opening pages of the Bible, humanity is portrayed as God's royal partner, his divine image. God orders a sacred space where Heaven and Earth are one, and then he makes eternal life available to humans by means of a tree. While many throughout history have imagined the tree of life as a magical tree that imparts eternal life, the biblical story paints a bigger picture. Sacred trees that offer divine life were a major theme in the religious art of ancient Egypt and Babylon. But in the garden of Eden, the tree is located at the center of the sacred space, the "holy of holies" of this Heaven and Earth place (Genesis 2:9).