In legend it was used as a pillow by the Patriarch Jacob when he dreamed of Jacob’s Ladder. Seen as a sacred object it was believed to have been brought first to Ireland, then Scotland.
In 1296 Edward I of England took the stone from Scone, near Perth, and had it built into his own throne. Since then it has been used in the coronation ceremonies for the monarchs of England and then Great Britain.
On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students removed the stone from Westminster Abbey in London. Three months later it turned up 500 miles away – at the front door of Arbroath Abbey.
In 1996, the stone was returned to Scotland and is now in the Crown Room where it is seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.
The stone will only leave Scotland again when there is a coronation in Westminster Abbey.
Historically, the artefact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. It is also known as Jacob's Pillow Stone and the Tanist Stone, and in Scottish Gaelic, clach-na-cinneamhain.
Its size is about 26 inches (660 mm) by 16.75 inches (425 mm) by 10.5 inches (270 mm) and its weight is approximately 336 pounds (152 kg). A roughly incised cross is on one surface, and an iron ring at each end aids with transport.
The Stone of Scone was last used in 1953 for the coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
There is, without a doubt, a special stone known as “the Stone of Scone” or “the Coronation Stone.” It’s history dates back to the founding of the Scottish people around the sixth century B.C.
According to the publication Historic UK, the The Celtic name of the stone upon which the true kings of Scotland have traditionally been crowned is Lia Fail, “the speaking stone”, or the stone which would proclaim the chosen king.
Originally, the stone played a part in the crowning ceremonies of the Scots kings of Dalriada, in the west of Scotland, an area just north of Glasgow now called Argyll.
When Kenneth I, the 36th King of Dalriada united the Scots and Pictish kingdoms and moved his capital to Scone from western Scotland around 840 AD. The Stone of Destiny moved there too. All future Scottish kings would henceforth be enthroned on the Stone of Destiny atop Moot Hill at Scone Palace in Perthshire.
The stone in question is no ornately carved megalith, just a simple oblong block of red sandstone. It measures 650mm in length by 400mm wide, and 27mm deep: with chisel marks apparent on its flat top. So where did this magical or mythical stone originate from, and why was it held in such reverence by the kings of old?
One legend dates back to biblical times and states that it is the same stone which Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel. Later, according to Jewish legend, it became the pedestal of the ark in the Temple. The stone was brought from Syria to Egypt by King Gathelus.
He then fled to Spain following the defeat of the Egyptian army. A descendant of Gathelus brought the stone to Ireland, and was crowned on it as King of Ireland. And from Ireland, the stone moved with the invading Scots to Argyll.
What is sure however, is that the Stone of Destiny remained at Scone until it was forcibly removed by the English King Edward I (“Hammer of the Scots”) after his Scottish victories in 1296, and taken to Westminster Abbey in London.
The current Coronation Chair originally built to house the stone in 1301 and first used at the coronation of Edward II. Thereafter used to crown every subsequent king and queen of England.
Still another interesting legend surrounds this mystical stone.
This one suggests that as King Edward I approached the Abbot of Perth, the monks of Scone hurriedly removed the Stone of Destiny and hid it. He replaced it with a drainage cover stone of similar size and hid the real stone on Dunsinnan Hill. It was the drainage cover which the English King carried off in triumph back to London.
Perhaps this legend is not so far-fetched. It could help to explain why the Coronation Stone is so geologically similar to the sandstone commonly found around Scone.
On St. Andrews Day, 30 November 1996, 10,000 people lined Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to witness the Stone of Destiny return to Scotland for the first time in 700 years.
In a service at St Giles cathedral the Church of Scotland Moderator, the Right Reverend John MacIndoe, formally accepted the stone’s return.
The Pillow Stone
The legend of “The Rock” all started when Jacob fled his father Isaac’s home out of fear of retribution from his brother Esau. Jacob and his mother Rebecca conspired together to steal Esau’s blessing. In modern vernacular this act would be comparable to fraudulently tampering with a Will. Once discovered, Jacob fled for his life to the family of his uncle Laban. Laban was his mother’s brother.
One night during the journey, as he camped, he chose a stone for a pillow and fell asleep. That night he sees visions of angels ascending and descending to heaven up and down a ladder. This vision was so real to Jacob and so moved him that it would become a defining event in his life.
After the vision, he set the pillow stone on end as a pillar and did a strange thing. He anointed the stone with oil. Here is the account from Genesis.
Jacob said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”Notice here that Jacob anointed the rock and pronounces over it that it will be God’s house. The word for Messiah in Hebrew means “the anointed one” and the Greek translation is “Christ.”
Early the next morning Jacob took the stone, set it up on end as a pillar and anointed it with oil. And he renamed the place Bethel.
Then Jacob made a vow saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking, and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear, so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth” (Genesis 28:17-22).
So Jacob makes this stone the anointed stone or the Messiah of stones. This stone will be God’s house.
The first indication the “the pillar stone” is kept as a possession comes as a dying Jacob gives his prophetic blessing to each of his twelve sons. Listen to how Jacob concludes his blessing to his eleventh son Joseph as he refers to the God of Israel. He said, “The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel” (Genesis 49:23-24).
God reminds Jacob of the stone
Twenty two years after Jacob anoints the stone, he finds himself fleeing again, this time to get out from under his overbearing uncle and now father-in-law Laban. God again comes to Jacob in a dream and refers to Himself as the God of Bethel and reminds Jacob of his three-part vow,
1. To make the God of Bethel his God.
2. To use the anointed stone to be the house of God. and
3. To give God a tenth (Genesis 31).
These were three big vows, but the only promise that would require a certain inconvenient diligence would be keeping up with a large stone.
The exact location of Jacob’s Bethel is unknown, but the city existed in ancient times and even today about 10 miles north of Jerusalem.
The Bible doesn’t specifically tell us that Jacob or the Israelites kept and transported the pillar stone, however the Old Testament Bible does on several occasions speak of a special rock or stone. And too, It makes sense that such a detailed account of the stone and its significance would cause Jacob to value the stone and it would act as an important keepsake to the large family that God promised him.
The Rock during the time of Jesus
By the time of Jesus 500 years later, the old temple relics and the stone had been long gone, but their memory as symbols still remained. In I Corinthians chapter 10 Paul speaks to the church at Corinth regarding his Jewish ancestors. He reminds them of passing through the Red Sea, of the pillar of cloud that guided them. Again he reminded them they all drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them. He then identifies the Rock as the Messiah. Vs. 4
Jesus is referred to as a rock three times in the New Testament. Both Paul and Peter referred to a quote from the prophet Isaiah. As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” Rom. 9:33 I Pet 2:6 referring to Isa. 8:14 and Isa. 28:16
