"In I Kings 7:15,16 we are told that the two pillars (Jachin and Boaz) measured 18 cubits plus 5 cubits for the capitals, a total height of 23 cubits for each pillar; and Jeremiah 52:21,22 gives exactly the same measurements. II Kings 25:17,though, says the pillars were 18 + 3 cubits, but this is not a problem since the writer is very likely excluding a decoration such as a cluster of bronze leaves around each capital. It was, and still is, customary to put leaf decorations around capitals, and particularly these because each one represented a lily flower.
The secret is this: The Jachin pillar (meaning Yah establishes) is King Solomon, and the Boaz pillar (meaning strength) is King David. And these two were Israel’s most illustrious kings and also the ones mostly responsible for planning and/or building the Jewish Temple. Both kings are messianic figures. All that follows is explanatory.
The scholarly opinion, seems generally agreed that Jachin means establish. But Boaz is highly disputable. It means strength, boldness, striker or perhaps fleetness – or neither; it is an unknowable, some say . Its meaning, though, must not be searched for solely in its etymological origins, but also in the lives of both kings, what they did or what was said about or to them, and by whom.
