The Pillars - June 20, 2005
T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 53 – June 20, 2005
This publication is issued with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge A.F. and A.M. of Minnesota.
“The fields from Islington to Marybone, to Primrose Hill and Saint John’s Wood, were builded over with pillars of gold; and there Jerusalem’s pillars stood.”
William Blake [1757-1827]
There is a lot to learn from the symbolism of Freemasonry, and I always like to learn more. A while ago I heard someone mention his wonderment about why the pillars were placed on the right and left side of the Porch of King Solomon’s Temple, and what purpose they served.
We may think that we really won’t know the reason King Solomon had them cast and what their purpose was for certain, but still there is information on them that might lead us to draw a conclusion:
One pillar was placed on each side of the main entrance to the temple. They surely were decorative, and they might also have held a symbolism that is not known to us. Some Biblical Scholars think that the pillars were free standing, as their representatives in a Masonic Lodge are, while others think that they supported a roof and an architrave.[i] [ii]
In the ritual of Freemasonry we are told that the pillars were cast in the clay grounds on the banks of the river Jordan, and were cast hollow so that they could better serve as a safe repository for the archives of Masonry against all conflagrations and inundations.
The book of Jeremiah in the Great Light of Masonry also is a place to look for information on the pillars and how they were constructed:[iii] “Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference, each was four fingers thick, and hollow. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.” Jer 52:21-23 NIV. (These passages of scripture in Jeremiah are referring to the destruction of the Temple, but they do describe how the pillars were constructed.)
From the description above we can tell that the pillars were indeed cast hollow, just as the story of the pillars in Masonic ritual, tell us they were. Another interesting note is that the remains of pillars, such as Boaz and Jachin, have been found in the excavations of numerous temples in the Holy land.[iv]
In the old Masonic Manuscripts it is mentioned about how the children of Lamech in order to preserve the secrets of their trades constructed two hollow pillars that were designed to withstand fire and flood.[v] Josephus, the early Hebrew historian, says that the pillar that survived the flood stood in the land of Siriad at the time he wrote ‘The Book of History from the Creation to the Death of Isaac.’[vi] “A later legend ascribes the erection of the pillars to Enoch, who inscribed on them the liberal arts and sciences, including the principles of Freemasonry.”[vii]
Our late Brother C.C. Hunt in his Masonic Concordance of the Holy Bible gives a reference to Revelations 3:12 where it says in part “him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God…..” He then applies this to symbolize, as far as Masonry in concerned, that the Mason who “learns to subdue his passions will become a pillar in the spiritual temple of God, and upon him will be written the forgotten name of God, of which the Lost word is a symbol.”
Brother Hunt also tells us that the pillars being cast in the clay ground of the Jordan, and placed on each side of the porch, as they were, are symbolically to a Mason that they are “cast in the clay ground of the brain and placed in the porch-way of human consciousness, to guide us in our passage from material to spiritual knowledge.” The pillars also represent space and time, which is hollow. “We are dwelling within their walls, and though floods may overwhelm and fire consumes the material work of our hands, yet will the record of noble character be forever safe in the repository of God’s infinite love and care.”[viii]
“It may be that we cannot immediately solve our problems, but we can immediately change our attitude.” An Anonymous Brother
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to erhmasonic@ncis.com with Subscribe and the Title in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.
Gigni de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti =[Latin] = From nothing nothing can arise, into nothing nothing can return.
From the Great Light of Masonry: “My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart also will be glad; and my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.” Proverbs 23: 15-16 NRSV
With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
[i] NIV Study Bible – Zondervan note on 1 Kings 7:15
[ii] An Architrave is the lowest division of an Entablature; resting immediately on the columns.
[iii] A cubit was a standard measure of 17 to 20 inches in length.
[iv] NIV Study Bible – Zondervan note on 2 Chronicles 3:17
[v] Story begins in Genesis 4:19-22
[vi] The Woks of Josephus Book 1 Chapter 2
[vii] Masonic Concordance of the Holy Bible #1102A3
[viii] ibid #1102Z
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 53 – June 20, 2005
This publication is issued with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge A.F. and A.M. of Minnesota.
“The fields from Islington to Marybone, to Primrose Hill and Saint John’s Wood, were builded over with pillars of gold; and there Jerusalem’s pillars stood.”
William Blake [1757-1827]
There is a lot to learn from the symbolism of Freemasonry, and I always like to learn more. A while ago I heard someone mention his wonderment about why the pillars were placed on the right and left side of the Porch of King Solomon’s Temple, and what purpose they served.
We may think that we really won’t know the reason King Solomon had them cast and what their purpose was for certain, but still there is information on them that might lead us to draw a conclusion:
One pillar was placed on each side of the main entrance to the temple. They surely were decorative, and they might also have held a symbolism that is not known to us. Some Biblical Scholars think that the pillars were free standing, as their representatives in a Masonic Lodge are, while others think that they supported a roof and an architrave.[i] [ii]
In the ritual of Freemasonry we are told that the pillars were cast in the clay grounds on the banks of the river Jordan, and were cast hollow so that they could better serve as a safe repository for the archives of Masonry against all conflagrations and inundations.
The book of Jeremiah in the Great Light of Masonry also is a place to look for information on the pillars and how they were constructed:[iii] “Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference, each was four fingers thick, and hollow. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.” Jer 52:21-23 NIV. (These passages of scripture in Jeremiah are referring to the destruction of the Temple, but they do describe how the pillars were constructed.)
From the description above we can tell that the pillars were indeed cast hollow, just as the story of the pillars in Masonic ritual, tell us they were. Another interesting note is that the remains of pillars, such as Boaz and Jachin, have been found in the excavations of numerous temples in the Holy land.[iv]
In the old Masonic Manuscripts it is mentioned about how the children of Lamech in order to preserve the secrets of their trades constructed two hollow pillars that were designed to withstand fire and flood.[v] Josephus, the early Hebrew historian, says that the pillar that survived the flood stood in the land of Siriad at the time he wrote ‘The Book of History from the Creation to the Death of Isaac.’[vi] “A later legend ascribes the erection of the pillars to Enoch, who inscribed on them the liberal arts and sciences, including the principles of Freemasonry.”[vii]
Our late Brother C.C. Hunt in his Masonic Concordance of the Holy Bible gives a reference to Revelations 3:12 where it says in part “him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God…..” He then applies this to symbolize, as far as Masonry in concerned, that the Mason who “learns to subdue his passions will become a pillar in the spiritual temple of God, and upon him will be written the forgotten name of God, of which the Lost word is a symbol.”
Brother Hunt also tells us that the pillars being cast in the clay ground of the Jordan, and placed on each side of the porch, as they were, are symbolically to a Mason that they are “cast in the clay ground of the brain and placed in the porch-way of human consciousness, to guide us in our passage from material to spiritual knowledge.” The pillars also represent space and time, which is hollow. “We are dwelling within their walls, and though floods may overwhelm and fire consumes the material work of our hands, yet will the record of noble character be forever safe in the repository of God’s infinite love and care.”[viii]
“It may be that we cannot immediately solve our problems, but we can immediately change our attitude.” An Anonymous Brother
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to erhmasonic@ncis.com with Subscribe and the Title in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.
Gigni de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti =[Latin] = From nothing nothing can arise, into nothing nothing can return.
From the Great Light of Masonry: “My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart also will be glad; and my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.” Proverbs 23: 15-16 NRSV
With “Brotherly Love,”
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
[i] NIV Study Bible – Zondervan note on 1 Kings 7:15
[ii] An Architrave is the lowest division of an Entablature; resting immediately on the columns.
[iii] A cubit was a standard measure of 17 to 20 inches in length.
[iv] NIV Study Bible – Zondervan note on 2 Chronicles 3:17
[v] Story begins in Genesis 4:19-22
[vi] The Woks of Josephus Book 1 Chapter 2
[vii] Masonic Concordance of the Holy Bible #1102A3
[viii] ibid #1102Z
Labels: Symbolism