Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.

Isaiah 28:16

In the beginning of this chapter, God scolds His people for their pride and drunkenness (v.1-3, 7). They appear to have been religious in their devotion to the law, but it was merely rote externalism. Therefore God promised (v.16) to send “a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.”

This cornerstone is a Person, and the Person is none other than Jesus Himself. We need not guess at this, since twice in the New Testament (Romans 9 and 1 Peter 2), Paul and Peter make it clear that these words in Isaiah are about Jesus.

Instead of worldliness and religion, Jesus is a sure, immovable foundation on which we can stand and not fall. Jesus is not common in the world but precious, worth more than all the treasures we could ever imagine. Jesus is a cornerstone that squarely aligns all that is built on Him (e.g., His people, His Church, and His kingdom), in line, never crooked or skewed. Whoever believes [on Him] will not act hastily—which means will not be quick to lay any other foundation, resting patiently on Him.

Let us not be those who profess faith in Christ, but whose lives tell a different tale. Instead let us trust in and be built upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and on Him alone.