2 Chronicles 3:1, “Then Solomon began to build the house of YHWH in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”
The Patriarch, upon this Mount,
Had offered up his son,
But at the last his hand was stayed,
For this was not the one
Who would his lifeblood spill to cleanse
The sin beneath the tree.
The Lord Himself would give the Lamb,
And on this Mount be seen.
Now once again, upon this Mount,
The Angel of the Lord
Does cease his righteous slaughtering
And sheath his shining sword.
What does he see, what does he know
That he, without a sound,
Should rest his blade upon this Mount
Where Isaac once was bound?
Now Solomon has brought to pass,
Beneath his father’s gaze,
A royal dwelling for the Lord
Upon this very place.
Yea, on that height where Isaac lay,
And where the Angel stood,
Now fire burns both night and day
Upon the sacred wood.
Yet Patriarch and Angel and
The House of Solomon
Were glimmers of the Mystery
Who was and is to come.
For here upon this very height,
The Altar and the Throne,
The Holy One and Sacrifice,
Would join in One alone—
In One alone who in Himself
Would bear the burning sword,
Receiving in his beating heart
The Justice of the Lord.
Here is the Lamb that God Himself
Both is and gives to all,
Here is the Angel turning back
The plague against our walls,
Here is the Temple lifted up,
Life streaming from its side,
Here is our Lord, here is our God,
Beloved of the Bride.
Yea, here is He who cleanses all
With lifeblood from the Tree
For surely, on this Mountain Height,
The Lord Himself is seen.
