The footstool is referenced numerous times throughout the Bible, often carrying deep theological significance related to God’s sovereignty and authority. Here is an overview of the main ways footstools are referenced and their implications:
1. God’s Footstool as His Domain
Several verses depict the earth or land as God’s footstool, representing His absolute dominion over creation. For example:
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” (Isaiah 66:1)
“The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)
This imagery conveys God’s complete rule and control over the earth. Just as a footstool is under one’s feet, so the whole earth is under God’s feet, subject to His authority.
2. Footstools and Temple Worship
Footstools were part of the temple furniture used by the priests in their service and worship.
“Then he made the laver of bronze and its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.” (Exodus 38:8)
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Make two bronze footstools for yourself, overlaid with silver, for the two sides of the altar.” (Exodus 30:17-18)
Footstools were placed alongside the altars so priests had somewhere to rest their feet while serving or performing various rituals. They were instruments of worship, much like the altars, lampstands, and other temple furnishings.
3. Footstools and Humility Before God
Bowing down at someone’s feet is an act of submission, humility, and reverence in Scripture. As such, kneeling before God’s “footstool” represents bowing before His divine glory and majesty. For instance:
“Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” (Psalm 95:6)
“O Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2)
Habakkuk says he will stand at his “guard post” and “station himself on the ramparts” waiting to see God’s work and glory revealed again (v.16). This vigilant posture demonstrates deep reverence and humility before the Almighty.
4. Footstools and Christ’s Exaltation
The New Testament applies “footstool” language to Jesus Christ and His glorification through the resurrection and ascension.
“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” (Hebrews 10:12–13)
After securing redemption on the cross, Jesus sat down in the ultimate place of sovereignty at God’s “right hand” and now awaits the day all evil will be eradicated. The “footstool” here pictures Christ’s supremacy over all opposing powers.
5. Footstools and Divine Judgment
God’s enemies are pictured as a footstool at times, which represents His impending judgment upon them. The protection and elevation of God’s people is contrasted with the destruction of those who oppose Him.
“The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Psalm 110:1)
“But God will smash the heads of his enemies, crushing the skulls of those who love their guilty ways. The Lord says, “I will bring my enemies down from Bashan; I will bring them up from the depths of the sea. You, my people, will wash your feet in their blood, and even your dogs will get their share!” (Psalm 68:21-23)
This vivid imagery underscores the absolute vanquishing of God’s foes. He will conquer every enemy until they are prostrate at His feet.
6. Mary Anointing Jesus’ Feet
One of the most famous foot references is when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and her own tears:
“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (John 12:3)
This intimate act displayed Mary’s devotion to Jesus and pointed ahead to His sacrificial death. It was a preparation of His “feet” for burial. Feet represent humanity’s fallen state in Scripture, so anointing Christ’s feet is connected with His mission to save lost sinners unable to rescue themselves.
7. Washing the Saints’ Feet
Jesus washed His disciples feet as an example of servant leadership:
“After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him…When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:5, 12-17)
Washing feet was a common courtesy. But here it symbolizes how believers should serve and care for each other in humility, not thinking themselves greater than one another.
8. Footstools and the Kingdom
Footstools represent subjection to a king, so God’s people waiting in eager anticipation for His kingdom to come fully are depicted as footstools:
“Sit in silence, go into darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The queen of kingdoms.
I was angry with My people,
I profaned My inheritance
And gave them into your hand.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’
These things you did not consider
Nor remember the outcome of them.
“Now, then, hear this, you sensual one,
Who dwells securely,
Who says in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will not sit as a widow,
Nor know loss of children.’
“But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
“You felt secure in your wickedness and said,
‘No one sees me,’
Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you;
For you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
“But evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you suddenly.
“Stand fast now in your spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
“You are wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
“Behold, they have become like stubble,
Fire burns them;
They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
“So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Who have trafficked with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own way;
There is none to save you.
“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the loins of Judah,
Who swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in righteousness.
For they call themselves after the holy city
And lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
“I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
“Because I know that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron sinew
And your forehead bronze,
“I declared them to you long ago,
Before they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
“You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
“They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
“You have not heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a rebel from birth.
“For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;
I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
“Surely My hand founded the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together.
“Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
“I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,
I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.
“Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the first I have not spoken in secret,
From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you in the way you should go.
“If only you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your well-being would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
“Your descendants would have been like the sand,
And your offspring like its grains;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the water flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the water gushed forth.
“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 47:1-21)
This prophetic text envisions the day when the enemies of God’s people will be utterly defeated and become a “footstool” for the faithful (v.13). God’s kingdom will fully come, sin and oppression will be no more, and His redeemed people will reign victorious with Him. The footstool here represents the final supremacy of God’s kingdom agenda.
9. Conclusion
In summary, footstools in Scripture often carry symbolic significance related to God’s sovereign reign, temple worship rituals, humble reverence before God, Christ’s glorification, divine judgment, and the anticipation of God’s kingdom. Footstools represent the earthly realm under God’s heavenly reign. Bowing down before the Lord’s “footstool” pictures complete submission to divine authority. As God’s enemies are made a footstool, Christ is exalted and God’s people purified and prepared to worship Him unhindered forever.
