The Meaning of the Signet Ring
Originally Signet rings were emblazoned with a family crest, initial or name, and they would be used to stamp or sign a document. A piece of melted wax was put onto a document and the Signet Ring was pressed onto the wax. It was a guarantee of who the person was and who was validating the document/letter/legal transaction. It also acted in many cases as a seal. I remember my father having one and some red hard wax. I believe he used it once or twice when I was a small child. It disappeared at sometime to who knows where. The word Signet comes from the Latin word sigillun which means seal and signun which means sign. In its day it had a greater significance than it seems to have in our material world today.
The Men of the Signet Ring:
The Signet ring is found in the scriptures. In Genesis chapter 36 verses 16-18 Jacob’s son Judah gave his Signet ring, bracelets and staff to Tamar. In Genesis 41:v42 the Pharaoh took his Signet ring and put it on Joseph’s finger. In Esther chapter 8 verse 2, King Xerxes presented his Signet ring to Mordecai. All were significant, validating the wearer and his authority. It was a seal. The material world pointing us to something in the spiritual world.
The Master and the Signet Ring:
The day after the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus says to those who sought him for more food ‘Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give unto you for HIM HATH GOD THE FATHER SEALED’. The original Greek just says ‘For on him God the Father has placed His seal’ John 6vs27. What is being said here is that Jesus wasn’t just saying that he had his Father’s approval. Jesus was saying more than that he was saying that his heavenly Father had bestowed His seal upon him as his chosen son, that the Father had authorised Jesus to go about His the Father’s business. As if Jesus were the Father himself. He had the Father’s authority. In John’s Gospel ch1 vs32 John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descending upon and abiding upon Jesus. The Father’s seal was the Holy Spirit. This seal was the guarantee of who Jesus was, the Father’s Son.
The Message and Magnificence of the Signet Ring for us:
Does the message of the Signet Ring stop with Jesus? No.
Ephesians ch1 vs13 states ‘After that ye believed YE WERE SEALED with that HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE which is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory’. This seal is the guarantee of who we are, children of the Most High God. We are marked with His seal as being in Him. We have had the Holy Spirit pressed into our lives – just as a seal is pressed into hot wax. We are marked out as belonging to Him.
Glory to God.
-Michael Whitehouse