Section 776
I. He promises, that if or seeing she was a wall
That is, well walled, built upon a sure foundation, and firmly established in her faith in and love to Christ, and is constant therein, and stands as a wall against the attack of enemies;[4300] a palace or tower of silver should be built upon her: by which may be meant, either, the scriptures of truth, with which she should be furnished: which, for their impregnableness and store of spiritual armor that is in them, may be compared to towers; and for their purity, richness, and excellency, to silver ones: or else, the ministers of the gospel may be intended, who are set for the defense of it: or this phrase may in general signify, that she should be fortified and put into a posture of defense against all her enemies, having on the πανοπλια, or whole armor of God; walled towns and cities, to which the allusion is here made, usually to have towers built upon the walls thereof; so Zion is said to have such (Psalm 48:12, 13), which also this little sister, the Gentile church, should not be without: though the word may as well be rendered, a palace;[4301] and signifies, that she should be built up an habitation for Father, Son, and Spirit, who would come and make their abode with her; and being such noble and uncommon guests, a silver palace must be erected for them. The persons who were to do this work, are either the Jewish church, with her ministers as instruments, and Christ as the principal agent; for Psalm 127:1. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it:" or else, by the we, are intended the blessed Trinity, as in 6:11, who were all jointly concerned in raising up a church-state in the Gentile world. From the whole may be observed, 1. That he that begins the good work, whether it relates to a particular person, or to a church, must and will finish it; the same hands which lay the foundation, must raise up the superstructure, and complete the whole building, by bringing in "the head-stone with shoutings, crying, grace, grace unto it." 2. This verifies the saying of our Lord (Matthew 25:20), that "unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance" grace is usually but very small at first, but it afterwards increases much; frequently from small beginnings great things arise: this Gentile church at first had but a very small appearance of a building; a foundation was just laid, and a side-wall erected; but in a short time, a noble structure, a silver palace for God, is built up.