It was the very first question asked by many of the children on Sunday morning: Why does the floor under the baptismal font have eight sides? The answer: Because the number eight has some very rich theological meaning and reminds us that Christ’s Easter victory becomes ours in Holy Baptism.
On the very first day of creation (Sunday), as the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, God called light out of darkness. And it was good. God created for six days and then rested on the seventh day (Saturday). Sadly, God’s very good creation did not stay that way very long, for our first parents quickly brought sin and death into the world.
Then, thousands of years later, into this sinful world came our Lord Jesus Christ to re-create fallen man. After being baptized to fulfill all righteousness, after proclaiming the kingdom of God in sermon and parable, after healing the sick and raising the dead, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the first day of the week (Palm Sunday) to begin His ultimate work of re-creation. He finished this work on day six (Good Friday) by being nailed to the cross, enduring the forsakenness of His Father, and redeeming mankind through His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Then He rested in the tomb on the seventh day (Saturday).
On the very next day—a Sunday, the first day of a new week—Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again. That Easter Sunday is, in a very unique sense, the eighth day of creation. Like the first day of the original creation, it is the day light was called out of darkness—the Light of the world out of the darkness of the tomb. It is the day Jesus re-created us through His resurrection victory. It is the day—coupled with Pentecost (another Sunday)—the Spirit began hovering over the face of the waters of Holy Baptism to deliver Christ’s resurrection victory to those baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
From the earliest of times, the one holy Christian and apostolic Church equated Sunday with the eighth day, the day of resurrection, the unending day of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. The earliest baptismal fonts had eight sides as a reminder that we are incorporated into Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy Baptism (cf. Romans 6). We die to sin in that water (Good Friday) and then are reborn into the eternal life of Jesus Christ (Easter Sunday). Which is to say, we and all the baptized find ourselves living in the eighth day of creation, a day that will never end. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That ancient light spoken into existence on the first day of creation foreshadowed the Light of the resurrection that dawned on the eighth day. This new and better light is “the bright morning Star” (Revelation 22:16) that never sets, “the Light of the world” (John 8:12) who has forever scattered the darkness of sin. Through Holy Baptism, we live in this eighth day with Christ!
There are other reasons eight is significant as well, and each of them is related to Christ’s resurrection and our baptism into Him. Eight people were saved on the ark during the flood, which corresponds to Holy Baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21). Eight day old boys were circumcised under the old covenant, which prefigured Holy Baptism (Colossians 2:11-12). And there are a total of eight resurrections recorded in Holy Scripture.
And so, every time you see the baptismal font, every time you witness a baptism, every time you hear the invocation, every time you walk over the octagonal marble floor on your way up to receive Christ’s true body and blood, remember that the eighth day—Christ’s resurrection—is where you live and move and have your being as the Father’s beloved child, robed in Christ’s perfect righteousness, templing His Spirit in your body.
What, then, does “eight” teach us? Simply this:
Then, thousands of years later, into this sinful world came our Lord Jesus Christ to re-create fallen man. After being baptized to fulfill all righteousness, after proclaiming the kingdom of God in sermon and parable, after healing the sick and raising the dead, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the first day of the week (Palm Sunday) to begin His ultimate work of re-creation. He finished this work on day six (Good Friday) by being nailed to the cross, enduring the forsakenness of His Father, and redeeming mankind through His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Then He rested in the tomb on the seventh day (Saturday).
On the very next day—a Sunday, the first day of a new week—Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again. That Easter Sunday is, in a very unique sense, the eighth day of creation. Like the first day of the original creation, it is the day light was called out of darkness—the Light of the world out of the darkness of the tomb. It is the day Jesus re-created us through His resurrection victory. It is the day—coupled with Pentecost (another Sunday)—the Spirit began hovering over the face of the waters of Holy Baptism to deliver Christ’s resurrection victory to those baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
From the earliest of times, the one holy Christian and apostolic Church equated Sunday with the eighth day, the day of resurrection, the unending day of Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil. The earliest baptismal fonts had eight sides as a reminder that we are incorporated into Christ’s death and resurrection in Holy Baptism (cf. Romans 6). We die to sin in that water (Good Friday) and then are reborn into the eternal life of Jesus Christ (Easter Sunday). Which is to say, we and all the baptized find ourselves living in the eighth day of creation, a day that will never end. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That ancient light spoken into existence on the first day of creation foreshadowed the Light of the resurrection that dawned on the eighth day. This new and better light is “the bright morning Star” (Revelation 22:16) that never sets, “the Light of the world” (John 8:12) who has forever scattered the darkness of sin. Through Holy Baptism, we live in this eighth day with Christ!
There are other reasons eight is significant as well, and each of them is related to Christ’s resurrection and our baptism into Him. Eight people were saved on the ark during the flood, which corresponds to Holy Baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21). Eight day old boys were circumcised under the old covenant, which prefigured Holy Baptism (Colossians 2:11-12). And there are a total of eight resurrections recorded in Holy Scripture.
And so, every time you see the baptismal font, every time you witness a baptism, every time you hear the invocation, every time you walk over the octagonal marble floor on your way up to receive Christ’s true body and blood, remember that the eighth day—Christ’s resurrection—is where you live and move and have your being as the Father’s beloved child, robed in Christ’s perfect righteousness, templing His Spirit in your body.
What, then, does “eight” teach us? Simply this:
Christ’s resurrection victory is ours in Holy Baptism!
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