Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Nail Fastened in a Sure Place

In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 22:25


" I discovered an even older custom when I realized that hundreds, if not thousands, of nails were pounded into the Western Wall. Older texts reveal a now-forgotten custom of the “sure nails.” This was the practice of bringing one’s sins, grief, or the tragedies of life to the remains of the Temple wall and “nailing” them in a sure place. The nails are a reminder of Isaiah’s prophecy that man’s burden will be removed when the nail in the sure place is taken down."

Daniel Rona- given in a presentation about Israel.

4 comments:

  1. Cool, that is perfect imagery, since Christ took upon Him our burdens through the Atonement, when the act of Atoning for our sins was complete, he pronounced, "It is finished" and gave up the Ghost. Then shortly thereafter the nails that held Him, (the bearer of our burdens) to the cross were removed, and with the Atoning for the spiritual death of man now complete, he had power to remove all of our burdens if we would offer them up to Him.
    (I know the Atonement was not technically finished until the Savior was ressurected, in that he saved us from physical death at that point, but I was just talking about salvation from spiritual death, being complete with the suffering and death of the Savior, as well as the subsequent removal of the "sure nails".

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  2. Wow! Cool insight. I also appreciate Mike and April's comments they post.

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  3. I'm rather new to this site and have been absolutely delighted with what I've read thus far... And when I read all of this about a nail in a sure place, I am reminded of what S. Michael Wilcox teaches. I was blessed to take many of his CES classes over the years, and found them profound. I wrote the below for my daughter last month, some of which were my own thoughts, triggered by things Mike has taught over the years...

    "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." (Romans 15:13)

    I love searching the standard works to see how many different names I can find for Jesus Christ, and I love this particular name for our God... He is called, "The God of hope." Isn't that a beautiful name? He is the God we can hang all of our hopes upon, just as Isaiah speaks of in his book...

    (21) And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. (22) And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. (23) And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. (24) And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons [huge containers]. ~ Isaiah 22:21-24

    I especially love v24... I don't know if you've ever seen a nail which has been pounded into an unsure place where it would eventually fall down (and anything hanging from it would fall down with the nail and break)... Well, Jesus Christ is the opposite of this. Because He is like a nail in a sure place, we can place all of our trust and assurance and hopes in Him, knowing He will never let us fall. From the smallest child (cup) in primary nursery all the way up to Thomas S. Monson (flagons)... we all may hang our hopes in Him.

    Also, in v23... The "nail in a sure place" is a political image, and full of incredible power (especially if you’ve been to the Temple and take this image with you there). Anciently, if you were a king and were defeated by another king, not only would YOU lose your kingdom and position, but your entire family and household staff would fall with you. THEY depended upon YOU to remain on your throne so that THEY, too, might remain in their respective stations. Think about it. If you are in a position of trust, everyone else near you is hanging on your nail... they all have their hopes hanging on YOU! You want to stay in that position of trust and not let them down!

    Spiritually speaking, there is Someone holding the weight of the “whole family and household”, and our entire exaltation and eternity is hanging in the balance. And if I am go to hang MY hopes on somebody, I want to pin my hopes on that Someone who is sure to be reliable and won’t let me down~ Jesus Christ! Only HE is in the position of holding the keys of opening the door (in the scriptures, He is known as the Doorkeeper, or Keeper of the Gate) and letting me in, back to the Father, and I don’t have to worry that He will eventually be removed. Not only that, but I’ve pinned my hopes on the Someone who has an “in” with the High King! Christ will use all of His influence to get me through the door back into Heavenly Father’s presence! He’s going to make everything good for us, and will even let me bring my whole family with me if possible.

    (Side note: What enables Him to be that Doorkeeper? He, Himself, was nailed to a cross, and the nailing of Him to cross made him a nail in a sure place.)

    So yes! He is our God of HOPE!

    [Gives us an awful lot to think about when we go to the Temple, doesn't it?

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  4. "A nail that is fastened in a sure place" also means a leader secured, as in having your Calling and Election Made Sure.

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