[36] The mountain of which Isaiah says that the house of the Lord is built upon, must necessarily be understood as referring to Christ who, in the language of the prophets, is called a mountain in holy Scripture. Dan. 2:35. On the other hand, the house which Solomon built upon Mount Moriah, has been destroyed, and lain waste now for about 1600 years, without being rebuilt. But Christ is such a foundation, that whatever is truly built on it, cannot fall: for “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor. 3:11.
No small proof of this is furnished by the fact that about forty years after the ascension of Christ, this very house was destroyed, demolished and burned by Titus Vespasian, and has not yet been rebuilt, though about sixteen hundred years have elapsed since; and, on account of the continual quarrels of the Palestinean and other eastern rulers, it is, viewing it from a human standpoint, not likely that it will ever be done.
Since it is true, then, that by the words “the house of the Lord,” we must understand the church of the Lord, there follows also what is said in connection with it namely: that the same shall be firmly, _i. e._ invincibly, established on the mountain, that is, Christ, the immovable foundation.
Besides the adduced prophecy, Isaiah 2:2, showing the firmness and immovability of the house (or the church) of God, which is founded upon the mountain of the Lord--Christ Jesus--the same prophet treating of the durability, glory and divine dignity of this church, under the type of the New Jerusalem, produces various commendatory testimonies for this purpose, saying among other things, chap. 60, verse 11: “Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night.”
This is a simile drawn from a peaceful city which has neither fear nor care that enemies will attack her, and, therefore, leaves her gates open by night as well as by day, for the accommodation of the citizens, and the messengers and strangers who are traveling in the night. Thus, he would say, will it also be with the future church of Jesus Christ.
Then, in verse 14, speaking of the enemies of the church of God, and of those who had slandered her, he says: They “shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
When a city has become so great that even her deadly enemies who had purposed to lay waste and destroy her, come bending their knees, and, as begging for favor, bow down before her, as is shown here of the enemies of the city and church of God; there is no probability that such city will easily be conquered, laid waste, or subjugated. So it is, in a spiritual sense, with the city and church of Jesus Christ; for it is this to which this prophecy has reference.
Immediately after, in the 15th verse, the prophet declares that God will make this city or church an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
And, as though by this the durability and excellency of this city, well-beloved of God, were not yet sufficiently expressed, he adds these words, verse 19: “But the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”
And, lastly, verse 21: “Thy people, O God, also shall be all righteousness: they shall inherit the land forever.” Here no further explanation is required, since the text plainly and clearly expresses our meaning; and we will, therefore let it suffice.
We then proceed to what Christ, the Son of God, himself testifies concerning this matter. Matt. 16:18: “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”