A Nail in a Sure Place

I love the names of God, especially because He is so intentional in revealing His nature to us through them. In His names, He invites us to know Him intimately — how He thinks, what He feels, how He acts.

One of my favorite names is “a nail in a sure place.” It is a hidden reference to Jesus, the coming Messiah, found in Isaiah 22:23.

The backstory starts in Isaiah 22:15, where God sends Isaiah to inform Shebna, the proud, self-serving treasurer under King Hezekiah, that he is about to be replaced by another man, Eliakim. God says,

And I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your sash [indicating official authority], and I will commit your government into his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder: so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.

And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.

And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house….
— Isaiah 22:21-24

Eliakim appears as a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, Jesus, Who is our “nail in a sure place.”

In earlier times, people didn’t have cupboards and closets. So they hung their clothing, pans, and other possessions on pegs or nails, which were firmly secured in the wall. Jesus is like such a nail. He is firmly, unshakably anchored, so that we can hang all our hope and trust on Him.

How do we know the nail in a sure place is talking about Jesus? Because in Revelation 3:7, Jesus specifically applies the previous verse in Isaiah 22 to Himself. He references verse 22 (“And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder: so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.”) in telling the Philadelphia Church, “These things says He Who is holy, He Who is true, He Who has the key of David, He Who opens and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens.”

In these troubled times, we see institutions and ways of life we have always taken for granted becoming unsteady, crumbling, or even disappearing. Many of us may also be going through personal trials which threaten to shake us to the core. In the midst of it all, we can trust in Jesus, Who is that “nail in a sure place.” He will keep us steady.

He is also the One with supreme authority to open doors of His choosing before us and to close doors which would only mean harm to us. He opened the door of the ark to Noah’s family, but closed it to the wicked when the time of repentance had passed. He opened the Red Sea to the Israelites, but closed it upon the Egyptians.

So, when life is shaky, remember that Jesus is your “nail in a sure place.” He is available — and eager — to take care of you.

________________________________________________

The Names of God
An alphabetical list of over 650 names and titles of God in the Bible

He Calls You Beloved
An alphabetical list of the names God gives to us in the Bible