Most people know the Bible is full of great historic narratives, and the story of how God tends to his people is often miraculous. What often goes unnoticed is the backdrop, the characters that add color to the story. Today’s example comes from Genesis 24, where Abraham gives his servant one final mission: Find a wife for his son Isaac. The servant chose to accept the mission and set off from the Promised Land to Ur, the birthplace of Abraham and home to a people with a long and vicious memory.

The servant left with gold, jewels and other forms of currency including an entourage of camels (10 in all), the modern equivalent of a fleet of limousines. He visited the exotic metropolis of Nahor and went to the one place he knew would be frequented by eligible women – not a club or rave but rather the city watering hole – erm, well. He settled the camels down in the evening shade provided by the city wall and prayed. While he was praying for God to lead him to the right woman, Rebecca was already approaching. She was stunning, unmarried and she offered to water the camels – exactly what the servant had prayed for.

Why would the servant choose watering the camels as his “fleece” to know that he had found the right woman? In a word, Isaac. Abrahams son was well known for his camel mania. In modern times its sports cars but in 2000 BC it was camels that were the mark of the wealthy and for good reason – camels were important transports. Often called “ships of the desert” because they can carry up to a half ton and travel 100 miles a day (that’s better than a lot of the electric cars today). They may not have LED headlights, but camels have three eyelids the inner-most of which is transparent, allowing the camel to see while protecting his eyes from sand and dirt. They also have two thick rows of eyelashes to help keep sand out of their eyes. Their nostrils can seal shut and their nose is always a few degrees cooler than their body, acting as a kind of radiator to cool their blood. Their feet are webbed and provide great traction in the sand.

Rebecca’s offer to water the camels was no easy chore. A camel can drink 27 gallons of water in just 10 minutes. If she drew water for all ten camels she may have pulled up 270 gallons, roughly 90 buckets worth of water weighing about 24 pounds each. She wasn’t a weakling, to be sure, but more importantly it reveals something very important about her: she must have loved camels too. She shared Isaac’s passion and she had a servant’s heart, she was just the match he’d been looking for.

The servant introduced himself and stayed with Rebecca’s family. Verse 31 carefully points out the home not only had an extra room for Abraham’s agent, but a place for the camels too. The next morning, they left with Rebecca and her maidens for the long journey home. The story doesn’t end there, however, while they were still some ways out from Abraham’s land, Isaac looked up and saw the entourage approaching. He raced to meet them. Rebecca seeing the man approach asked the servant who he was and, upon hearing it was to be her betrothed, she prepared herself for their first meeting. That night they revealed not only their love for camels but came to love each other as well.

A Disney fairytale couldn’t be sweeter. True love finding its way across miles of desert sand and all on the account of camels.