“His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold…” Song 5:15
As the Bride describes her Beloved at the end of Song of Solomon chapter five, she notes that he has feet that are like sockets of fine gold. Sockets are mentioned over fifty times with regard to the construction of the tabernacle and in those passages they were always made of brass or silver. Song 5:15 gives us the only sockets of gold found in scripture.
Jesus’ feet are mentioned a number of times in the Bible. In his glorified state, Revelation 1:15 says he has, “feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” But during his earthly ministry Jesus had normal human feet that wore sandals, got dirty, needed to be washed and eventually were pierced with nails on a cross.
Thus, if this passage is a typical picture of King Jesus, we have the only reference in the Bible to our Lord having golden feet – why? Adding to the perplexity is the fact that feet are for mobility and sockets of course are not movable – plus these sockets are made of one of the heaviest metals in existence! Pillars of marble anchored to the ground in sockets of gold portray a beautiful picture, but they are entirely impractical for any type of movement. Thus the Bride sees her King as infinitely handsome, but also as fixed and literally rock-like in his steadfastness.
This theme is a common one throughout scripture: “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2) This permanence and immovability of God was described by Nebuchadnezzar when he said of the God of Daniel, “he is the living God, and stedfast for ever…”
Because our Lord is immutable and immoveable we have the guarantee that none of his promises will ever fail. He will never leave us nor forsake us. His faithfulness is a certainty upon which we can unfailingly rest. “He only is my rock and my salvation… I shall not be greatly moved.” (Psa. 62:2) His unwavering trustworthiness means that we can have the confidence to fix our hearts upon him and his word. In a world of instability and uncertainty, our Lord is resolute – like one standing with legs as pillars of marble and set in sockets of gold!
If you would like to practically apply this truth, consider this: If there was an earthquake or if gravity suddenly stopped, what around you is fixed and what around you would suddenly fall over or float away? Most of man’s things are temporal and easily shifted. In creation, many of God’s things like the trees and plants are tied down and fixed in place. Meditate for a few moments upon the people and things in your life – how fixed and steadfast are those things upon which you are focusing your time and energy?