Bronze Pillars

Have you ever wondered why the Bible goes into such detail when describing seemingly unimportant things?  The book of Numbers in the Bible is filled with names upon names upon names.  Leviticus gives detailed instructions on how to perform the many different sacrifices.  There are many chapters in Exodus and Kings and Chronicles dedicated to the description of the tabernacle and temple and the furnishings found within.

But these aren’t unimportant details.  It shows that we serve a precise, detail-oriented God, who not only knows our names but who also cares about the minute details of our lives.  It also shows that we worship a God who is a great Storyteller – One who weaves deeper truths into seemingly unimportant details.  The sacrifices and tabernacle and temple are filled with types or pictures of Jesus.  It’s almost overwhelming when you really start to study.  But, this evening, I was struck by a picture in the temple of someone else.

I am now reading through the book of I Kings, and just read chapter 7.  Verses 13 – 51 describe the furnishings in Solomon’s temple and go into great detail on the two bronze pillars made by Huram of Tyre.  Here’s what I gathered about the pillars:

1.       Bronze, cast in clay molds (7:15, 46)

2.       Tall – approximately 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference, topped by a 5 foot capital (7:15-16)

3.       Decorated – especially the capital, with chains of pomegranates…the whole capital being in the shape of a lily (7:17-22)

4.       Located in the portico of the temple (7:21)

5.       North pillar named Boaz; South pillar named Jachin (7:21)

 Interesting, eh?  They were BIG.  Solid.  Beautifully decorated.  I mean, that makes sense – God deserves to have beautiful things in His presence.  But I wanted to learn a little more.

 BRONZE SCULPTURE:  I knew very little about the casting of bronze articles in clay molds.  So, I looked it up.  After looking at a few websites, I think I can recount the process to you...an ancient process, in fact.

In simple terms, it’s beeswax à clay à bronze.  But there are some really interesting details. 

 

1.       It seems that artists used to create an original sculpture in beeswax. 

2.       They would then cover the sculpture in liquid clay (a process now called “investment”), and cook it in a fire.  The wax would melt out of the clay, leaving a hard shell ready to fill with molten bronze. 

3.       In order to make sure this mold was good, it was tested with water.  Any cracks, leaks, or imperfections found were patched until the mold was ready. 

4.       Once ready – both the bronze and the clay mold were heated.  (Bronze for melting purposes, clay to keep the melted bronze from “seizing” when it comes in contact with a much cooler temperature.) 

5.       Then, the bronze was poured.  (Nowadays, it takes three artisans to complete a mold.  According to ModernSculpture, the “lead pour” manages the controls for the crucible of molten bronze, the “deadman” manages the crucible balance, and a third nameless artisan scrapes away the dross and slag on the surface of the molten bronze.) 

6.       Once cooled, the “devesting” process takes place – and the clay is removed.  This can now be done with hammers and power chisels and sandblasting.  I’m not sure what they would have used in King Solomon’s time…but something similar.

7.       Lastly, the sculpture would go through “chasing and finishing” – a process or removing all signs of the casting process so the sculpture would look like the original.

Isn’t that cool?  I love learning new things!  But what makes this even cooler…is Revelation 3:11-12, in which Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia:  “I am coming soon.  Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  Him who overcomes I will make like a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it.  I will write on him the name of my God and name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on him my new name.”

WHOA.  We could be pillars?  In the temple?  So….like, HUGE BRONZE PILLARS?

Let me back up for a second.  The passage in I Kings 7 gives us lots of details about physical characteristics of these pillars:  how tall, how they’re decorated, etc.  It doesn’t specifically say that they have any spiritual significance.  But this verse in Revelation sure gets the wheels turning in my brain.  So, let’s just roll with this hypothetical idea that King Solomon’s pillars are a small picture of Christians.

And if we do…it’s pretty beautiful.

I’m only going to go into #1, #4, and #5 on my list of interesting facts about the bronze pillars as a comparison.

 

#1.  Bronze, cast in clay molds.

Clay reminds me of our humanity…and the process of “investment” seems like the building of a human shell around our souls.  (I could even jump out on a limb and say Jesus made an “investment” by becoming human…but let’s keep with our original thought here of the pillars being a picture of believers.)

This clay coated wax is put in the fire…losing its original substance (the wax melting out)…but it waits for something better to fill it.  (old nature melting out, perhaps?)

The clay is tested with water, looking for cracks and leaks…and is patched up where needed. (like a Christian’s growing process?  hard times in life?)

Then it is put into the fire again so that it can be filled with a precious metal.  (our new nature?)

Clay is chipped and sandblasted off.  (death?)

But the bronze remains…chasing and finishing remove the signs of casting so it looks like the original (aren’t we meant to look like “little Christs”?) 

#4.  Located in the portico of the temple.

“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple.”  Psalm 27:4 

Revelation 3:12 says that never again will Christians, like those pillars, leave the temple.  Awesome. 

 

#5  North pillar named Boaz; South pillar named Jachin.

Jachin means “He shall establish”.  Boaz means “in Him is strength”.  Ummm….whoa.  Jesus says that he who overcomes will be like a pillar in the temple.  And we are told that these are the names of the pillars:  HE SHALL ESTABLISH, IN HIM IS STRENGTH.  Our “bronze strength” is all dependent on Jesus.  He helps us overcome.

 

I don’t know if all of this will strike you with the same sense of wonder as it has hit me with tonight.  Maybe I’m over-spiritualizing these pillars, but even just the names of them (Boaz & Jachin) are an encouragement.  Throughout our lives – the good and the bad times – God is molding us to be strong and established. 

To recognize that God is telling us so much about His love and His purposes for us – even in seemingly mundane details of temple furnishings is exciting to me. 

May we never stop being amazed by Him…and His creative ways of sharing His heart with those He loves.  And, may we submit to His molding process, knowing the result will be beautiful.