Isaiah 28:16

"In contrast to this supposedly clever diplomacy of power politics, God declares the true basis of Israel’s safety: the person and work of the Messianic Redeemer." [Note: Archer, p. 628.]

The Lord God’s response to His people’s lack of faith in Him was to reveal that He was doing something too. He was laying a firm foundation in Jerusalem that they could and should build on. This huge "stone" was tested, planted securely, and a sound basis for security. Ancient cornerstones were not the same as modern western ones. They were the largest and most determinative stone in the foundation of a building. Builders oriented the rest of the foundation in reference to this stone (cf. Ephesians 2:20), and it supported the major portion of the superstructure. What was this stone? I believe it was Messiah (cf. Psalms 118:22; Zechariah 3:9; Zechariah 10:4; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; Romans 10:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6).

The commentators have offered many interpretations of this cornerstone, and several of them have written extended discussions of the figure. In biblical usage, the figure of God as a stone goes back to Genesis 49:24 (cf. Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 8:14-15). Since Messiah would be God (Isaiah 9:6), the interpretation of this stone as Messiah is in harmony with these other biblical uses of the figure (cf. Isaiah 8:14). God was doing something that would make possible a stable edifice (Israel), namely, preparing for Messiah. Those in Isaiah’s day who believed that God was working for His people would not panic. Perhaps Isaiah’s hearers did not recognize this as messianic prophecy when the prophet gave it (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6). Perhaps they thought that Isaiah just meant that God was doing something hidden that would result in the security of their nation, and they should trust Him.