This is a challenging question. While the Bible does give several descriptions of God’s physical appearance, those can be seen through the lens of symbolism and metaphor. Of course, they may be the actual reality too! In the book of Ezekial in the Old Testament and in Revelation in the New Testament, words and phrases like “glowing metal” and “burning fire” are used to describe his body and his eyes. The apostle John said that his head and hair were like snow white wool. However, these are simple attempts to relay the image of a Being beyond human language. One of the more striking representations we see several times in the Scriptures is a very simple one.
There is the image of a man-like us.
In Genesis, the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, we are told that we are made in his image and likeness. We, the created, bear the image of the Creator. So, we can say that God may look somewhat like us, but until we are before Him in Heaven, our understanding of that image will be partial and incomplete.
Perhaps, however, there is another way for us to try and answer this question.
In the New Testament, we are told that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
That might sound a little strange, but if you think about it, that is more helpful than we may first realize. If we look at the person of Jesus, we might have a better idea of God’s appearance- but we have another clue that helps us see beyond the physical description of Jesus to see what God “really” looks like.
We know Jesus was a man. He was a Middle-Eastern man with physical attributes that would coincide with the features of men his age in that geographic area during that time period. However, whether his skin was light or dark, his beard heavy or spotty, whether his shoulders were broad or narrow, his feet large or small, his hands bony or thick, those are uncertain and relatively unimportant points. The real image is not a color or size or mark; it is something we would call glory.
The Bible says that there was nothing special about Jesus’ appearance. He was not striking. Yet, when Jesus came near, He drew a crowd. Men and women lined the roads to see Him and crowded into buildings to catch a glimpse of Him. They were drawn to His glory, but this was not a “glory” that glittered or sparkled. The Creator of the universe could take any form; however, He chose the unexpected. This glory was His mercy. This glory was His compassion. This glory was His kindness. This glory was His forgiveness.
This glory was and is His goodness.
Men and women were and still are drawn to God’s goodness. When we think of what we will see when we see God, we remember that we will see Him in all of his glory. And that glory is His goodness. So, when we think of the representation or image of God, we may see the figure of a man, but the fiery eyes, the glowing metal, snow white hair are all representations of His goodness. And that goodness is His love- an everlasting and unconditional love He has for us.