He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.
The temple is built. At its entrance stand two huge pillars of bronze. The verse gives only metal and measurements. Yet commentators read these pillars as a public statement, set where everyone coming to the house would see them.
The metal
One writer traces where the bronze came from and what it stands for.
W. W. FeredayDavid took the brass (more likely "copper" or "bronze") for the pillars from Syria in war, as we are told in 1 Chron. 18:8. Brass stands for the righteousness of God in judgement. That is why it was used for the altar of burnt offering. Scripture gives four pictures of righteousness. Gold — divine righteousness in itself. Brass (or copper) — divine righteousness applied to man in judgement. Linen — "the righteous deeds of the saints" (Rev. 19:8). Filthy rags — the righteousness of the flesh (Isa. 64:6).
Bronze carries more than one meaning. One writer marks off the use here from the way the metal speaks elsewhere.
H. L. RossierWhen the book of Kings mentions brass, it is not a picture of the divine righteousness by which we come to God. It shows to the eyes of the world the righteousness that marks the kingdom and the government of Solomon, or of Christ. In a word, it is the righteousness of God, but shown outwardly in government.
The measurements
Eighteen cubits high, twelve around. In feet, the size is easier to picture.
Leslie M. GrantTwo great pillars of copper at the entrance added to the splendour of the temple. Each was 18 cubits (27 feet) high and 12 cubits (18 feet) around. If these were solid copper their weight must have been tremendous. They would still be very strong if they were hollow with walls only 4 inches thick.
Another writer looks at where the pillars stood, and at the design in their proportions.
Solomon's TempleThe word that 1 Kings uses for where they stood means "by," not "in": he set up the pillars by the porch of the temple. They were hollow, and the brass was four fingers thick (Jer. 52:21). Brass is a symbol of strength; hollow speaks of emptiness. People who know about such things say that the thickness and size given here give the greatest strength with the least metal. That is just like God in His perfect wisdom.
What they announced
The pillars stood where no visitor could miss them, and they carried two names.
H. L. RossierThe bronze pillars stood in front of the porch of the temple and caught the eye at once. They were the outward display of the principles of the kingdom. We have already said that the temple has no other pillar. They were named Jachin (He shall establish) and Boaz (in Him is strength). These were the two great truths pictured for everyone who shared in the blessed reign of Solomon.
The same writer weighs the tense of the first name.
H. L. RossierUnder Solomon himself the pillar Jachin — He shall establish, not, He has established — spoke of an establishing still to come, of which Solomon's reign was only a faint picture. As for the pillar Boaz — In Him is strength — this is something past, present, future, and eternal. Strength is in Him. The moment the link with God broke, neither the king nor the kingdom would have any strength.
Christ, not Solomon
Another writer takes the two names and follows them past Solomon's day.
Leslie M. GrantJachin means "He shall establish." It is a promise that God will one day establish His house, for it was not to be established then. Israel's unfaithfulness later brought that house down, but God's promise for the future stands. Boaz means "in Him is strength." If the weakness of Israel led to ruin and failure, the Lord Jesus is still the strong One who will do the will of God perfectly.
A promise to the overcomer
One writer links these two columns with a promise made to the overcomer, and finds a contrast as well as a likeness.
Raymond K. Campbell"The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God." In Solomon's temple two vast bronze pillars stood in the porch. This promise surely points back to them, yet it also stands in contrast. Those pillars were taken away when the temple was destroyed. The promise to the overcomer here is that he will never go out again. It is a fixed and eternal position.
Summary
- Bronze stands. Bronze speaks of God's righteousness applied to man in judgement, put on show before the eyes of the world.
- Strength stands. Vast, hollow, four fingers thick — the greatest strength from the least metal. One writer calls that God's perfect wisdom.
- Two names stand. Jachin, "He shall establish," and Boaz, "in Him is strength" — the only pillars named in the house, set in front of it for all to read.
- A future stands. Jachin is future tense, not past; Solomon's reign was the weak picture of an establishing still to come.
- The overcomer stands. Solomon's pillars went when the temple fell. The one made a pillar in God's temple will never go out again.