The Key Of David

O COME, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that morns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel,
to thee shall come Emmanuel!

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heav'nly home,
make safe the way that leads on high,
that we no more have cause to sigh.

Who or what is the Key of David? Revelations 3:7-8 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia (at the time there were seven churches of Asia, this is one of them) write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Isiah 22:20-23 Then it shall be in that Day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; ²¹ I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ²² The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. ²³ I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house.

The Key of David is a term found in Revelation and Isaiah. A key indicates control or authority; therefore, having the Key of David would give one control of David’s domain, i.e., Jerusalem, the City of David, and the kingdom of Israel. The fact that, in Revelation 3:7, Jesus holds this key shows that He is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, the ruler of the New Jerusalem, and the Lord of the kingdom of heaven.  In both cases, with the Church in Philadelphia where certain Jews had unlawfully assumed authority (Rev. 3:9), and in Jerusalem where Shebna had usurped authority in the palace (Is. 22:15-19), the Key of David was given to establish God-ordained authority in those places. In the culture of the time a Key was an emblem of the authority of Government; and in the East to this day, in transferring the authority and Government of a city, a large Key is laid upon a person.