How ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Connects With Christian Faith in Four Freaky Ways

Idris Elba in Thor: Ragnarok, photo courtesy Marvel and Disney

Heimdall is Moses

Near the beginning of Ragnarok, we learn that Heimdall—the loyal guardian of Asgard’s Rainbow Bridge and the realm-leaping bifrost—is a fugitive from justice, and probably just as well: When Hela arrives in Asgard, Heimdall (Idris Elba) is in a pretty good position to serve as a kind of rebel shepherd. As Asgardians flee Hela’s terrible reign, he’s there to lead them into a safe place.

‘Course, with a force as fearsome as Hela, no place is safe forever. She eventually finds Heimdall and his flock of Asgardian refugees, and she pursues—leading to Ragnarok’s truly apocalyptic conclusion.

The finale doesn’t end the way you might expect. Rather than saving the land of Asgard from a terrible fate, Thor and his posse of helpers brings about its end. But, as we hear from various characters, Asgard is not a place: It’s a people.

We can’t help but hear the echo of the Jewish people in the Asgardian’s eventual escape.

Like the Asgardians, the Hebrews of Exodus left a land that had served as their “home” for centuries—escaping slavery and death following Moses, another fugitive of the state. While Moses led the Hebrews through a magical parting of the Red Seas, Heimdall led his Asgardians across the Rainbow Bridge, a bit of magic suspended above the roiling waters. And both were eventually saved by help from above—quite literally in Ragnarok, when a spaceship popped up out of the blue to shepherd the Asgardians away.

And so the Asgardians wander, much like the Hebrews of old. Moses’ people wandered for 40 years, in fact, taking with them the Ark of the Covenant, their tent tabernacle and other artifacts that illustrated how beloved they were of God.

The promised land was still a long way off. And frankly, they didn’t hold that land for very long. A few centuries later, the Assyrians and the Babylonians would come a knocking, taking over their sacred soil for millennia and scattering the Jewish people across the globe.

And yet, the Jewish people remained a people, even when divorced from their land. Just like the Asgardians.