In this message we want to see what Christ is as the Steward in the house of God, typified by Eliakim. Eliakim is one of the most all-inclusive types of Christ. This type is seen in only five verses of Isaiah 22—verses 20-24. Although this portion of the Word is short, it is very difficult to understand and interpret.
This type in these verses reveals six aspects of Christ. First, He is the Steward in God's house. Second, He is the Father as the Source and Supplier to the people of God. A father of a home is always the source of that family and the supplier. Third, Christ is typified as a key-holder. The Lord Jesus referred to Himself as the One who has the key of David in Revelation 3:7. He is the One who holds the key of the house of David. The house is the place where a person keeps all his precious things. The house which keeps the precious things is the treasury. Isaiah 39:2 records how Hezekiah showed the Babylonian visitors his treasury, which literally means "the house of his precious things" (see note 1 of verse 2—Recovery Version). The house of David was a treasury. Hezekiah opened up this treasury to show the Babylonian visitors the riches of the house of David. Christ is the One who has the key to the house of David.
Fourth, Christ is seen as a peg, a nail, driven into a sure place. Zechariah 10:4 and Ezra 9:8 are other verses which refer to the peg, or the nail. Fifth, Christ is a throne of glory for His Father's house. Sixth, Christ is the One upon whom hangs all the glory of His Father's house. All the people of God's house are hanging on Him, and these people are likened to vessels.
We may say that whatever is in the New Testament concerning Christ was already referred to in the Old Testament. In principle, this is true. But we also need to realize that there are many details in the Old Testament that cannot be found in the New Testament. The New Testament does not tell us that Christ is a peg, a nail, and no New Testament verse tells us directly that Christ is the throne. The New Testament tells us that Christ is a slave, a servant of God, but it does not tell us directly that Christ is a steward. The New Testament says that we believers are stewards (1 Pet. 4:10), but it does not use the word steward in reference to Christ. A servant may not be a steward, but a steward is surely a servant.
In ancient times, a large family would have a steward to dispense the riches of the household to all of its members. The book of Genesis records that Joseph was such a steward of Pharaoh's house to distribute the riches of this house. Isaiah 22 speaks of Shebna as the steward over the king's house, the royal household, the royal family. All the treasures were in the king's house, and the key to this house was in his hand. Eventually, he was replaced by Eliakim, a type of Christ as the Steward in the house of God. The New Testament does not relate so many details concerning Christ. We need to see how rich the all-inclusive Christ is. He is not only the Steward and the Father but also the Key-holder and the peg. He is also a throne of glory and the One upon whom hangs all the glory of His Father's house.
Our fellowship in this message to point out the aspects of Christ in the type of Eliakim shows that we need the exposition and interpretation of the Bible. Without the proper exposition and interpretation of the Bible, we would not be able to understand it. Darby, Scofield, and Newberry all recognized that Eliakim was a real type of Christ. Today we are standing on the shoulders of the teachers of the Bible who have gone before us so that we can see and enter into more of the riches of the all-inclusive Christ.