Behind Jeremiah's imagery of the potter and his clay is probably the idea in Genesis that God made Adam from clay. Unlike the potter breaking the pot that turns out badly, God did not repent of creating Adam to destroy him or break him in pieces. God chose another way to heal human brokenness and bring us back to a harmonious relationship with God and with all things.

Apart from the historical circumstance and meaning of the parable for Jeremiah and those with him, it also hints at the question which often rises spontaneously in our hearts whenever we face disasters: "Why does God do such things?" Just as Jeremiah has no idea what was in the potter's mind but could only guess at his dissatisfaction with his work, so too, we cannot know the mind of God. In our case, human and Christian experience, especially the early Church's experience and understanding of Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection teaches us that, for those who love him God can and does bring much great good out of natural and personal disasters (cf. Romans 8:28).