Isaiah 28:16
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.” (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 28:16 and 1 Peter 2:1-10
Isaiah gives a prophecy from God that the Messiah would a precious cornerstone that is tested. This prophecy that calls the Messiah the cornerstone is continuously developed throughout the Old Testament and seems to build each time it is mentioned from the book of Job through Zechariah.
- “Who laid its cornerstone?” (Job 38:6)
- “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps 118:22).
- “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation’” (Isa 28:16).
- “From Judah will come the cornerstone” (Zech 10:4).
God begins in Job by asking if anyone knows who laid the cornerstone. He then proceeds to give us more information each time He tells us about the cornerstone. In Psalms we learn that the cornerstone will be rejected. In Isaiah we learn that the cornerstone will be tested. And then in Zechariah we learn that the cornerstone will come from Judah.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all recorded Jesus claiming to be the fulfillment of this prophecy:
“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes”’” (Matt 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17).
Jesus is the cornerstone meaning he is the foundation of our faith. He is the foundation upon which all of God’s people are saved. The metaphor equates all of God’s people to a building (or Temple) of which we are all stones that make up the whole and Jesus is the foundation.
Paul explains the metaphor better:
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22).
God no longer lives in the Temple made of physical stones. God now lives inside His people. We are a holy temple built on the foundation of Jesus.
Peter quotes our text in his first letter:
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame’” (1 Pet 2:4-6).
Peter draws out the main two points of Isaiah’s prophecy being that because Jesus was tested and found worthy, he is now the cornerstone whom we can trust. Peter makes the case in this section of his letter that because we can trust Jesus, we should live a life following in the footsteps of Jesus. We no longer fear and we can never be put to shame because our reward is eternity with God.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Pet 2:11-12).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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