Israel’s Prophesied Cornerstone
(Part 2)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Isaiah 28:16c-17

¹⁶…A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.  ¹⁷Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place.  ^.

Isaiah 28:16c

A tried stone - The word which is used here is applied commonly to “metals” which are tried in the fire to test their quality (see Job 23:10; Ps. 66:10; Jer 9:6; Zech. 13:9). The idea is, that God would lay for a foundation not a stone whose qualities are unknown, and whose stability might be doubtful, but one whose firmness and solidity were so fully known, that the foundation and the superstructure would be secure.

A precious cornerstone - The word ‘precious’ refers to the fact that the most solid stone would be used to sustain the corner of the edifice. The principal weight of the superstructure rests on the corners, and hence, in building, the largest and firmest blocks are selected and placed there.

A sure foundation; he that believeth - He that confides in that; he that believes that that foundation is firm, and that he is secure in trusting in that, shall not make haste. The great doctrine of faith in the Messiah as a ground of security and salvation, on which so much stress is laid in the New Testament, is here distinctly adverted to. The sense is, that confidence in him should keep the mind firm, and preserve him that believes in safety.

Will not act hastily - This might better be rendered ‘Shall not be ashamed.’ So Peter, (1 Pet. 2:6); and Paul, (Rom. 9:33). The Hebrew word means properly “to make haste;” and then to urge on; and then to be afraid, to flee. The idea is derived from one who is alarmed, and flees to a place of safety. The specific thought here is that of a man on whose house the tempest beats, and who apprehends that the foundation is insecure, and leaves it to seek a more safe position. The prophet says here, that the foundation on which Zion was reared would be so firm that if a man trusted to that he would have no cause of alarm, however, much the storms should beat around it. The same idea essentially is conveyed in the version of the Septuagint, and by Paul and Peter, where it is rendered ‘shall not be ashamed,’ or ‘confounded.’ That is, he shall have no reason to be ashamed of his confidence in the firm foundation; he shall not flee from it as a man does who puts his trust in that which fails him in the day of trial. He that believes on him shall not be confounded; his expectations shall not be frustrated, but far out-done.

Isaiah 28:17

Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet - The sense of this is, I will judge them according to the exact rule of law, as an architect frames everything according to the rule which he uses. In other words, there shall be no mercy intermingled. The line is used by a carpenter for measuring; the plummet consists of a piece of lead attached to a string, and is also used by carpenters to obtain a perpendicular line. A carpenter works exactly according to the lines which are thus indicated, or his frame would not be properly adjusted. So God says that he would judge the people of Jerusalem according to the exact rule, without any intermingling of mercy.

The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place.  - (see the note at Isa. 28:2). Hail, hailstones, and floods of waters are frequent images of the divine vengeance and wrath Ps. 105:32; Isa. 22:19; 30:30; Ezek. 13:13; 38:22; Rev. 8:7; 11:19; 16:21. He tells them also that upon the grounds which they now built on they could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them (v. 17): Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. This denotes the building up of his church; having laid the foundation (v. 16), he will raise the structure, as builders do, by line and plummet, (Zec. 4:10). Righteousness shall be the line and judgment the plummet. The church, being grounded on Christ, shall be formed and reformed by the scripture, the standing rule of judgment and righteousness. Judgment shall return unto righteousness, (Ps. 94:15). Or it might speak of the punishing of the church’s enemies, against whom he will proceed in strict justice, according to the threatenings of the law. He will give them their deserts, and bring upon them the judgments they have challenged, but in wisdom too, and by an exact rule, that the tares may not be plucked up with the wheat. And when God comes to execute judgment, these scornful men will be made ashamed of the vain hopes with which they had deluded themselves. First, They designed to make lies their refuge; but it will indeed prove a refuge of lies, which the hail shall sweep away, that tempest of hail spoken of v. 2. Those that make lies their refuge build upon the sand, and the building will fall when the storm comes, and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Those that make any thing their hiding place but Christ shall find that the waters will overflow it, as every shelter but the ark was over-topped and overthrown by the waters of the deluge. Such is the hope of the hypocrite; this will come of all his confidences.