There are all kinds of mirrors, which are objects used to reflect light in a way that preserves much of its original quality even after its contact with the mirror. Most ordinary mirrors (used for personal grooming or decoration) are plane mirrors, but at fun fairs there are curved, distorting mirrors which can make things look shorter or taller, fatter or thinner:
The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles is one of the most famous rooms featuring mirrors. Built for Louis XIV in the 17th century, this room has seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows that overlook the gardens and its dimensions are 73.0 m × 10.5 m × 12.3 m (239.5 ft × 34.4 ft × 40.4 ft).
Magic mirrors feature in fairy tales. The most famous is probably the magic mirror in ‘Snow White‘ where the wicked queen would ask ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?‘, confident that the answer would reflect her own beauty… only to find one day she had been usurped by Snow White and thus plotted to kill her.
Then there is the magical mirror in ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ which leads Alice to a fantastical world of adventures.
In Bible days, however, mirrors were not made of glass and obviously were nowhere near as precise or effective as the mirrors we use today. The first mirrors were probably water, since you can see reflections in clear water (think of Narcissus, who was extremely vain and proud, so much so that when he saw his reflection in a pool of water, he fell in love with it, not realising it was merely an image.) Ex 38:8 and Job 37:18 indicate that mirrors were made of bronze and clearly not as effective as glass mirrors today. Perhaps that is why Paul says ‘now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face’ (1 Cor 13:12), for matter how good the mirror is, what we see is only a reflection of the real thing; it is not the real thing itself.
This passage in 1 Cor 13 emphasises the primary importance of love in the life of the Christian (see also John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:10-11), but Paul reflects also (1 Cor 13:8-12) that our understanding of God is indirect and incomplete in this present life, using the analogies of childhood and mirrors.The analogy of the mirror implies that our visibility of Christ currently is indirect. In other words, Paul is comparing the nature of looking in a mirror to the relationship we will enjoy with Jesus when we see Him “face to face.” What we currently know and experience of God is not the whole story. There is so much more to be revealed (see 1 John 3:1-2) We may not know everything now, but God knows us through and through (see Ps 139:1-6) and there is coming a day when the perishable shall be clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality (1 Cor 15:52-54) and God will dwell with us, removing all pain, tears, suffering and death. (Rev 21:1-5) One day we won’t mirrors to see God; we will be like Moses who spoke with God face to face. (Num 12:8) What a day that will be!