Song of Solomon 5:15

Christ's steps through this world engage the hearts and minds of those who love Him, and pillars of marble picture them here. The apostle Peter seems to have had those pillars in mind when he wrote, "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." The writing on the temple pillars, Jachin and Boaz, witnessed that "He will establish" and "In Him is strength." The steps of the Son of God in this world are left in the record of God's word. Do they not tell us of God's ways in grace, and of the unflinching devotedness of Him who knew what it was to be weary with His journey, and who set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem? Marble is both strong and beautiful, and so were the steps of the Lord Jesus in all His ways.

Pillars serve as supports to hold up the structure built on them. Man has never been able to stand up under any responsibility that God has placed on him; he has always broken down under it. Adam failed in the garden of Eden… Even the most faithful prophets, priests and kings failed at some point or another. But here is a man whose legs are as pillars of marble set on sockets of gold. Stability and strength are seen in Him. He stands firm and unmovable, and everything built on Him is secure forever.

The marble pillars are set on sockets of fine gold. The gold represents what is essentially divine — divine righteousness, or the divine nature. All things are established and upheld by Him on the basis of divine righteousness. All is maintained in keeping with His divine nature.

How excellent He is in all His ways. There is an elevation of character and dignity about His person and bearing wherever we see Him. He never kept people at a distance; He was always accessible. There was a love and tenderness in His ways that drew people to Him. Yet there was always an excellence in His bearing that made you realise you were in the presence of your superior. See Him before the crowds, alone with His disciples, with little children in His arms, alone with the immoral woman of Samaria, eating with tax collectors and sinners, or standing before His accusers. In every scene there was a dignity and excellence about His bearing that marked Him out as superior to everything around Him, even in His deepest humiliation.

The name Lebanon means whiteness, no doubt given because of its snow-capped peaks, and so it also suggests purity. It was just this heavenly purity, always reflected in all His manners and ways, that gave such elevation and excellent dignity to His person.

The spouse has already portrayed her Beloved from head to foot. Now she refers, we have no doubt, to His general appearance — to all His glorious features together, His full stature… This figure plainly illustrates His glorious majesty as the Messiah. The lofty cedars on that fine mountain Lebanon are the standing type in Scripture of exaltation, glory and majesty. Shining like the finest gold from head to foot, adorned with every grace, fragrant with all sweetness, glorious and majestic like the cedars of Lebanon — such is the Person of her well-beloved.

The bride can speak freely of the Bridegroom's beauty to others: this is always her happiness and her proper place. This is not only fitting in itself. We can also see how her own neglect, and its bitter cost, made her feel and speak His praise more fully than ever.