Today's Reading: 1 Kings 7

 

Jachin and Boaz

Two massive bronze pillars were constructed at the entrance to Solomon’s Temple. These pillars were given names: “Jachin” and “Boaz.” Jachin (pronounced yaw-keen) and Boaz (bow·az) stood at the entrance to the temple’s vestibule or portico. Their dimensions indicate the extent of the work involved in creating them. Including the decorative tops of the pillars, they stood approximately forty-five feet tall (about the length of the trailer on a semi-truck) and had a diameter of about five feet. The brass used to make the twin pillars had been taken by King David from the king of Zobah as part of the spoils of war (1 Chronicles 18:8–9).

The names of these pillars are significant. Jachin means “he will establish,” and Boaz signifies “in him is strength.” Taken together, the names were a reminder that God would establish the temple and the worship of His name in strength. God had king Solomon erect the two pillars and keep them at the entrance so that people understood the presence of God in the Temple. For the Jews in Solomon’s day these pillars stood as a pointed reminder that Yahweh is our support and strength each time they entered the porch of the Temple.

The pillars of Solomon’s Temple have significance for us today, as well. Jesus refers to them in Revelation 3:11-12 as He is encouraging the Church in Philadelphia. He promises them that “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name”

With Christ as the foundation, the Church is referred to as the temple of God and the place where His presence dwells. His servants constitute the pillars by which the Church is decorated. In Galatians 2:9, Paul the Apostle refers to Peter, James, and John as “pillars” in the church. The picture, then, is one of the overcomer being established in Christ’s Church with His support and strength.

Just as the Temple pillars had names, so we too – as pillars in God’s temple – will one day bear three names: the name of our God, the name of God’s city, and Jesus Christ’s “new name.” We don’t yet know just what that name will be, but it will surely stand as a pointed reminder that He is the One who has established us (Jachin) and by whose strength (Boaz) we receive eternal life.