IMPORTANCE OF CORNERSTONE

 

 

THE CORNERSTONE

Larry R. Herrin

 

Jesus is the stone that the builders rejected, according to scripture, “The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner…” (Mark 12:10).

The Jews rejected Jesus, and as such rejected the “Cornerstone” to the Christian Church. That New Testament saying came from King David, and both the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah, “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste’” (Isa 28:16).

The cornerstone was laid in Zion. We think of Jesus as the “Cornerstone” for making a new creature, but “Zion” has much significance. Zion was the stronghold of David in his city (2 Sam 5:7).

The Herodian Tower in the City of David was long before that the Tower of David where the Citadel was located since ancient times. The Tower of David may have been the structure that was built from the cornerstone of Psalm 118:22.

The Jews rebuilt the Citadel there long after Jesus but not with Jesus as the “Cornerstone” but perhaps Herod who fulfills the prophecies. That is for the building, but Jesus, as the Messiah, was the intended “Cornerstone” that the Jews rejected.

Now for some information on cornerstones in general. Often public buildings have cornerstones such as the one in the picture below (figure #2) that is part of the structure of the South Dakota Courthouse. A Cornerstone makes a structure true to design intent. Even homes have a type of “cornerstone” which is the first corner laid for the foundation. All overall measurements are taken from the truest, and usually the first corner laid on a building.

 

 Figure 1: The Foundation Stone; Wikipedia

 

 

Why would a technician — carpenter, mason, or roofer — do that? When using any type of instrumentation, there is “measurement error” either due to the instrument, the process, or the technician.

Let’s say that a home in process is to be three rooms wide. If measuring from the corner to room one, then from room two to room three; that introduces up to three times the measurement error compared to one error if the technician always measures back to the corner. So, to get a true structure requires a corner reference.

In buildings, the reference is the corner stone whether it is wood, brick, composites, or stone. Cornerstones are used to make the structure as perfect as can be.

Cornerstones are used, not just for one dimension but three dimensions. Cornerstones are “datums” from which data is used.  The data are the measurements in all directions back to the one datum.

 

Figure 2: State House Cornerstone

 Not only do builders use datums but so does the designer who dimensions to locations referenced to the datum.

Datums are now used in making tools, machines, parts, and other products because the consumers do not want to buy sloppily built junk! Datums prevent low-quality produce because datums prevent error accumulation.

A common and simple datum block is shown in figure #3.

Figure 3: Datum Block; Enventive

The simplest of datum blocks are just a flat block with a top flat surface and two orthogonal edges that are exactly at right angles to each other. A datum such as that allows true measurements from three surfaces A, B, and C in the figure.

However, datums can have one flat surface with one hole that will suffice for two directional measurements. Vertical dimensions in such a scheme can be measured from the true flat surface of the block (surface “A”). Rather than using edges B and C, the hole could be the corner datum for measuring width and length.

Surely, the Tower of David (Zion) used a plain block as was the custom. However, that doesn’t work so well for circular structures. A hole works much better for spherical coordinates, so to the corner stone is added a hole for complex structures.

God — Jesus Himself (John 1-14) — was the “Technician” that built the cosmos (Greek; kosmos). Jesus was not only a “carpenter” but a mason, an astrophysicist,  astronomer, and such; scripture uses the Greek word, “Tekton” rather than a mere “carpenter.” Jesus knows all things and is a skilled craftsman in all the professions. He made all things, by Him all things were made! Said John.

How did Jesus do that? Knowledgeably and professionally. The photo in figure #1 is the “Foundation Stone” which lies beneath the present-day Dome of the Rock. Compare the Foundation Stone in figure #1 to the datum block in figure #3. Neglecting the chipped off edges that many generations of builders removed, essentially, the Foundation Stone is the datum of not only the world, but the cosmic universe, and even Adam himself.

Jewish philosophers and theologians believe that the Foundation Stone is the “celestial axis” of the universe, as well as the “navel of the world.” They also believe that that stone is the very one on which Adam was created, so it may represent the datum of Adam’s kind (us) as well!

Because it is the celestial axis, it is the datum — the corner stone — from which all things in the perfect universe were measured by the “Technician” Jesus!

Because it is the navel of the world, and Adam means “ground,” then it is both Adam’s navel and the navel of the world.

Because the cosmos was measured from that stone, if that is true, would mean the universe is true to God’s measurement and that all those bodies in space were placed exactly where God wanted them to be for mankind.

The Foundation Stone has a hole just like the datum block. Archeologists have no idea how it was drilled or for what reason. It makes sense that the Foundation Stone is the cornerstone of Zion and by now, Zion includes all of Jerusalem which is in the “midst of the Garden” of Eden (Gen 2:9). That hole was cut in rock by God, most certainly, to be the cornerstone from which He measured the universe.

Isaiah comes to the rescue of archeologists again, Speaking of God he asked,  “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?” (Isa 40:12).

Who? God! Who was his Tekton that did that? Jesus. The Father was the Intelligent Designer and Jesus the Builder whose corner building stone the builders reject.

Jesus constructed the universe and life from that “cornerstone.” If Jesus can generate all things from that stone, He can regenerate all things, again without error, and with true measurements!

If Jesus can make all things, according to John, what would hinder him from making a new you, a new Jerusalem, a new heaven, and a new Earth? He did it once and He can do it again!

The invisible Church is a true structure, to wit: 

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:5) 

¹⁹ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; ²⁰ And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; ²¹ In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: ²² In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephes 2:19-22)

 The second Temple of God never got finished as the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple was never achieved.

Then Herod, to placate the Jews, built a grand temple atop the foundation of the first. Josephus said that Herod’s workers used the original foundation to build a Temple for the Jews.

Herod may have thought that his temple was tried and true but it was not built on a solid and true foundation. Herod’s Temple was essentially for Moses because he left out the chief Stone” — Jesus the “Cornerstone” and in 70 A.D. the sicarii, the seditious, and the thieves banded together and destroyed Herod’s Temple. (The Roman general, Titus, tried to stop the destruction).

As Jesus was glorified in death, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent…” (Mat 27:51), and then the Church was released from the rubble (Mat 27:52).

Jesus initiated the destruction of the Temple. His Holy Ghost tore the curtain from the Holy of Holies, and quaked the foundation so that the Temple would fall down. Then the Jews just followed suit in 69 and 70 A.D.

Jesus forewarned of impending doom for Israel and their Temple:

¹ And as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples saith unto Him, “Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” ² And Jesus answering said unto him, “Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1-2)

 Jesus was the Cornerstone of the Temple. When He died the Cornerstone gave way and the earth quaked. The material Temple began to fall, and in 70 A.D., Titus finished it off, leaving only the Citadel that was on the foundation that David built.

But a new temple was in the making. Immediately the Gentiles took the “Stone” that the builders rejected and built an invisible Church that will never perish because it is made up of Christians as the lively stones in the pillars that hold the Church up.

Jesus said to Peter about Himself, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16:18).

Ironically, the Stone for the Church is Jesus, but Peter may be buried beneath the Roman Church in St. Peter’s Basilica. That place is not the true Church; Peter may be its “cornerstone” but not the Cornerstone of the living Church.

The building is not the Church. The Church has structure, and its foundation was the prophets and apostles, both set to the Cornerstone, Jesus. Christians are the spiritual substances of the pillars, and the “roof” is the heavens whereto the Cross points.

So, “Cornerstone” is more than a building or an assembly; it is the tried and true “Foundation” and built in Jesus.