By R.
R. Anderson, Sr.*
Past Grand Secretary - Grand Chapter of Minnesota
The Stone of Foundation constitutes one of
the most important and abstruse symbols of Freemasonry. It is referred to in numerous legends and
traditions, not only of Masonry, but also of the Talmudic writers. Masonically, it first appears in the Royal
Arch, although it is not anywhere alluded to by that name. The Stone of Foundation, according to legends,
is supposed to have been a stone placed at one time within the foundation of
the Temple of Solomon.
The legend begins with the time of Enoch, who in obedience to
instructions which he had received in a vision, built a Temple underground on
Mount Moriah and dedicated it to God.
His son, Methuselah, constructed the building, although he was not
acquainted with his father’s motive for its erection. This temple consisted of nine vaults,
situated perpendicularly beneath each other and communicated by apertures left
in each vault.
Enoch then made a triangular plate of gold, one cubit length on each
side, enriched with precious stones, and encrusted the place upon a stone of
agate of the same form. On the plate he
engraved the true name of God, the Tetragrammaton, and placed it on a cubical
stone, known thereafter as the Stone of Foundation. He deposited the whole within the lowest
arch, the vault then being closed by a door of stone to which was attached a
ring of iron, by which it could be opened.
Upon the death of Enoch and the destruction of the world by the deluge,
the knowledge of the vault or subterranean temple and of the Stone of
Foundation, with the sacred name upon it, was lost for ages to the world. At the building of the Temple of Solomon this
stone, bearing the ineffable name of God, was found while digging the
foundations of the Temple, and as removed and place in the Holy of Holies.
