Jesus promises to make the overcomers in Philadelphia “pillars in the temple of My God” (Revelation 3:12).

Yahweh was the original pillar. He led Israel to Sinai in a pillar of cloud, and then His cloudy pillar filled the tabernacle. Yahweh is the pillar in His own house, the load-bearing structure that keeps the house erect. But Jesus promises to make the overcomers Yahweh-like, pillars in the house, trees and ladders stretched between heaven and earth, structural features of God’s house. Yahweh has built a new house, and this one will not be torn stone from stone; it will always have its structural pillars to keep it intact. (Shall we call this infallibility? Indefectability?)

And - ain’t it great - “he will not go out from it anymore” (3:12). Who is that he? It makes most sense to say that it is the pillar. But what would make us think that the pillar might move away from the house he holds up? Again, Yahweh-as-pillar is the background, because He did leave His house, and it collapsed. Yahweh is going to remain in His house, and His house won’t fall because He has erected lots of pillars to hold it up.

Following that “he will not go out from it” thread takes us in another direction too. Twice something very like this is said of the high priest: After Aaron’s sons are killed, Moses forbids him to leave the sanctuary (Leviticus 10:7), and according to Leviticus 21:12, the high priest is forbidden to leave the sanctuary. (I don’t think that the latter passage means that the high priest lives in the sanctuary, which would create problems of purity if nothing else. It’s again in the context of death: He may not leave the sanctuary to attend the funeral even of his father or mother.)

At least we can make these connections: The priest is a human pillar in Yahweh’s house, and Jesus promises to make the faithful in Philadelphia priest-pillars as well. That is why they bear a triple name (Revelation 3:12): The priest was also a pillar bearing the name of Yahweh on his crown - “Holy to Yahweh.”