Isaiah 28: A Cornerstone Scripture

Honestly, I am not sure what to make of much of the material in Isaiah 28.  Some of it seems to be referring to things of which only Isaiah's original audience may have been aware.  Amid the confusion, there is one verse, however, which later resonated throughout the New Testament.  It became a cornerstone scripture which itself speaks of a "cornerstone."

"Therefore, thus says the Lord God, See I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: 'One who trusts will not panic'" (vs. 16).

Paul refers to this scripture in the book of Romans, applying it to Jesus and His spiritual role and relationship to the Jews in chapter 9.  First he says that Christ has become "a stumbling stone" - a concept which is itself a reference to an earlier section of Isaiah.  "He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over - a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken" (Isaiah 8:14-15).  But Paul then adds to it this verse from Isaiah 28, saying, "Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame" (Romans 9:33).

Such a fundamental scripture is this to Paul that he repeats it in the very next chapter.  "The scripture says, 'No one who believes in him will be put to shame'" (Romans 10:11).  The teaching that Christ is the sure, dependable cornerstone upon which you can base your faith and your life and never experience rejection, failure, or shame is a profound commentary about the strength of faith that Paul had in Jesus.

Peter, in his first letter, similarly uses the analogy of Christ as this cornerstone in his metaphor of the Church being built together out of living stones.  "For it stands in scripture: 'See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame'" (I Peter 2:6).  We can build our lives upon Christ without fear or trepidation; He is a sure cornerstone which will never fail or shame us!