What is the significance of a capstone in the Bible?

Zerubbabel means “melted by Babylon” which pictures the lowly grace of the Lord Jesus in identifying Himself with Israel in feeling the deep sorrow of her humiliation in captivity to Babylon's tyranny. He who rightly feels the humiliation of Israel's shame is the One who can deliver her from the bondage of Gentile oppression. Therefore, the question, “Who are you, O great mountain?” (v. 7), draws our attention to the Gentile powers, beginning with Babylon, that have been so great an obstacle to Israel's blessing. But before Zerubbabel, this mountain would be reduced to a plain — no obstacle whatever. Certainly Zerubbabel is a picture of the Lord Jesus in this case.

More than this, “He shall bring forth the capstone, with shouts of Grace, grace, to it.” The capstone or topstone of the building (the temple) signifies its completion. Just as Christ is the foundation of the building, so also is He the full completion of it. Grace too will be predominantly seen, in contrast to “might” and “power.” Grace will draw forth shouts of rejoicing on the part of the people. This will be especially true in the day of Israel's restoration, but today believers are privileged to know in advance the reality of the grace of God. This grace is seen in the Lord Jesus as the foundation of the spiritual building, the Church of God, and as “Completer of faith,” the One who brings to a perfect culmination all the counsels of God concerning the Church.

“He shall bring forth the headstone with shoutings: Grace, grace to it!” (v. 7). In the previous chapter Christ was the cornerstone of the foundation. Here He is portrayed as the top, the keystone of the entire building. God had engraved seven eyes on the cornerstone; on the headstone one reads only one word: Grace! His praise, as being the bearer of God’s favour, will be sung by all. All future blessings will depend on this grace of God displayed in the person of the King. When He came into this world, grace appeared in His person; out of this, faith received the fullness: “Grace upon grace” (John 1:16). But His people did not receive Him and the world rejected Him. Then He finished the work of grace on the cross. One day He will appear in His kingdom as the bearer of God’s favour and the dispenser of grace for Israel and for all the peoples, for He does not despise the day of small things.

In the first place then Zerubbabel is to be directed to the only source of power — to the Spirit of God; in the next he is sustained by the promise of the successful issue of his work. The great mountain should "become a plain: and he should bring forth the headstone [of the temple] with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." (v. 7.) By the mountain, we apprehend, is symbolized all the obstacles that lay, in the way of the completion of the work. It is a figure gathering up the whole of the difficulties, as well as the opposition encountered, the details of which are given in the book of Ezra. But all these — whatever the activity, power, or influence of the adversaries — are nothing to God; and they are likewise nothing to the man of faith when resting alone upon the power of the Spirit, and when walking in the path of God's will. It is thus that the question is triumphantly, not to say defiantly, put, "Who art thou, O great mountain?" It is indeed an exultant challenge, bringing out the confident assurance that before Zerubbabel it should become a plain. (Compare Isaiah 40:35.) The Lord Jesus, it is more than probable, referred to this scripture when He said to His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done." (Matthew 21:21.) For what is the mountain in this case? It was doubtless the Jewish nation in its unbelief and opposition to grace, that enmity of the Jews which was ever the obstacle to the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles, and which, overcome by the faith of the disciples, finally disappeared as the Jews were merged in the sea of the nations. But whether this or that, it affords abundant encouragement in the Lord's service, as it will enable His servants to regard the most insurmountable difficulties as occasions only for the display of almighty and victorious power through the working of the Holy Spirit.

The headstone is connected with the completion of the building; the foundation-stone had long since been laid (see Ezra 3:10; Ezra 4:24; Ezra 5:1); and hence the promise refers to the conclusion of the work, which should be accompanied by the joy of the people, and their acknowledgment in their joy that grace, Jehovah's favour, had accomplished all. As a symbol, the headstone, equally with the foundation-stone, points to Christ. This will be seen from the words, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head[stone] of the corner." (Psalm 118:22.) And it is possible that the passage in Ephesians may connect itself with this: "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone" (Eph. 2:20), teaching that He is both the foundation and the crown, the beginning and the end, of the house of God.

But the reference in the text is to the building of the temple. “Before Zerubbabel [the representative in Jerusalem of the house of David] thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace to it” (ver. 7), that is to say, the foundation had previously been laid, and if they only trusted God and went on with the work the headstone should be laid, and everyone would cry, Grace, grace to it; that is, exclaim what a fair and beautiful edifice it had become.

It would appear to be the foundation of the matter that is coming to light. Christ is both the Foundation Stone and the Headstone of the Corner, and when they bring the Headstone forth they cry, "Grace, grace unto it". The point is that He is going to grace the whole building and glorify it.

This stone, rejected by the builders, the rulers of the people, appears again in Zechariah, after the exile caused by the false building of the pre-exilic rulers. We now find that it is a head-stone or topstone. This is a stone cut beforehand by the architect which not only as the last stone to be dropped into place, bonds the building together, but also, by whether it fits or not, tests whether the architects plans have been truly followed. We are not called on to judge how truly Zerubbabel built for his day and generation, because in Psalm 118 we find the fulfilment expressed in the prophetic perfect, but none the less future, because this Psalm is clearly Messianic.

This stone, rejected by the builders, the rulers of the people, appears again in Zechariah, after the exile caused by the false building of the pre-exilic rulers. We now find that it is a head-stone or topstone. This is a stone cut beforehand by the architect which not only as the last stone to be dropped into place, bonds the building together, but also, by whether it fits or not, tests whether the architects plans have been truly followed. We are not called on to judge how truly Zerubbabel built for his day and generation, because in Psalm 118 we find the fulfilment expressed in the prophetic perfect, but none the less future, because this Psalm is clearly Messianic.

But see the wonder of God's grace. The Spirit of God has been sent forth, from a glorified Christ and the Father, and now we have a habitation of God, formed by the Spirit (Eph. 2:22). Every believer in the Lord Jesus is a living stone in this spiritual house, which "groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord." How wondrous is the grace of God! In the very world where His Well-Beloved was crucified, where men cried out, "Away with Him," a habitation is being formed from such material as that! Men who recognize their lost condition and accept the infinite grace and love of God, out of this quarry of nature are the great and costly stones dug for this temple of God. Thus, without great show, without the sound of a hammer (1 Kings 6:7), this eternal habitation of God is growing, until "He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it" (Zech. 4:7).

This work is altogether distinct from the work of propitiation which is necessarily outside of us as to time and sphere of action. The atoning work of Christ at Calvary is complete, and nothing can be added to His sacrifice. His blood of eternal efficacy was once shed at the set time, and we, in consequence, stand justified by faith before our God. But the Spirit of God is now actively at work in us. Day by day, He, the great Architect, is busy with us, forming us for the place assigned to us in that holy temple which is growing up to completion as God's habitation, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner-stone. When the headstone is added, the whole building shall be revealed in flawless beauty, a wonder to Israel and the nations at large. Then in glory each living stone will be fitted to the place for which it was modelled in the great temple of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, to shed the lustre of Christ's glory upon the millennial world beneath.

Here in the second chapter, he mentions that the stone that the builders (an image of the leading religious class in the people of Israel, who should have known better) had rejected "has become the cornerstone" (v.7), the "head of the corner".

The previous verse also mentions a cornerstone: “Behold, I lay in Zion a corner stone, elect, precious”. This cornerstone refers to the foundation and reference point for the spiritual house consisting of living stones, i.e. of all true believers. It is the stone to which the whole building is aligned. The cornerstone in verse 7 is to be distinguished from that of verse 6. The expression used in verse 7 is a different one. It denotes the "head of the corner" (Gr. kephalē gonias). It is the last stone that is inserted in an exposed position when the building is finished (cf. Zech. 4:7). This is precisely what is emphasised here: Christ has been given the highest place. He is still rejected by the world, but God gives Him the highest place.