Jesus is the Nail in the Sure Place (Come, Follow Me: Isaiah 13-35) – powered by Happy Scribe
What is your favorite title for Jesus Christ? Across the Scriptures, there are more than 100 titles for the Savior, each of which provides insight into his life and ministry. The one I want to discuss today isn’t mentioned very often, perhaps because it appears in Ice Isaiah. It’s in Isaiah 22, which is not one of the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon, making it even less likely that we’ll come across it. But Elder Jeffrey or Holland called this chapter a moving messianic tribute.
It’s a lesser known story about two men named Shebnah and Eliakim. Shebna was an official in King Hezekiah’s court, but he did something bad and was kicked out. His replacement was a man named Eliakim, and Elijah is a type of Christ. In Isaiah 22 22, we learned that Elijah received the key of the House of David. Speaking of a liachem, it says, he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.
In the Book of Revelation, chapter three, jesus identifies himself as having the Key of David and says he’s the one that openeth and no man shut it and shut up and no man openeth. Can you see how there’s a clear correspondence between Jesus and Elihim? Jesus himself makes that connection. Why does this matter? Notice what the Lord says about Elihim.
I will fasten Elijah as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious thrown to his Father’s house, and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father’s house. In that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off. In its original context, this passage tells us that Elijah was a key part of the King’s royal court. Imagine a nail or a peg in a wall with all sorts of important things hanging on that peg. That’s a liaison.
We can see Jesus Christ in the same way. We as individuals and the Gospel as a whole hang on him. Of course, the phrase nail in the shore place has another connotation. Elder Holland said, when the Roman soldiers drove their four and a half inch crucifixion spikes into the victim’s flesh, they did so first in the open palm. But because the weight of the body might tear that flesh and not sustain the burden to be carried, they also drove nails into the wrist, down in the nexus of bone and sinews that would not tear no matter what the weight.
Thus, the nail in the Christ was the nail in a sure place. Once it was removed and the Savior was cut down, the burden of the crucified body, more literally, the burden of the atonement, was brought to an end. In terms of our salvation, Christ is the nail in a sure place, never failing, never faltering. For each of us, this phrase might have different meanings. For me, it means Christ is always there.
He is rock solid. We can build our Oliver on him. In my life, the more I’ve been able to make him my foundation, the happier I’ve been. I know that he lives and that he loves and cares for me and for you. And he will strengthen and bless each of us.
You and I will never regret time we invest to draw closer to him. He is the nail in a sure place.
Guest Author
dyejo
