Pomegranate

The pomegranate, packed with hundreds of ruby seeds, was a favourite fruit of the land and a natural emblem of fruitfulness and abundance. It was among the good fruits the spies carried back from Canaan as proof of the land’s richness.

Its form was woven and carved into the holiest places. Blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates alternated with golden bells around the hem of the high priest’s robe, and rows of carved pomegranates crowned the great pillars of Solomon’s temple — beauty and fruitfulness brought into worship.

In the Song of Solomon the pomegranate is a recurring image of the beloved’s loveliness and of a flourishing garden. The seed-laden fruit speaks of life multiplied and blessing overflowing — a fitting ornament for the priesthood and the temple, where God meets a people he intends to make fruitful.