Ruby - Kings, The Trinity, and The Blood

Ruby is the birthstone for the month of July. Ruby is the red variety of corundum known as the 'King of Gemstones'. The term 'corundum' which we use today is derived from the Sanskrit word 'kuruvinda'. In the Sanskrit language Ruby is called 'ratnaraj', which does in fact translate as 'King of Gemstones'. The actual name 'Ruby' was derived from the Latin word 'rubens' meaning 'red'.

The red of rubies is in a class all by itself: warm and fiery. Two elements are associated with the symbolism of this color: fire and blood, implying warmth, illumination and life for mankind.

Ruby occurs as a trigonal rhombohedral crystal i.e., a crystal having threefold symmetry. In crystallography, the trigonal crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems, and the rhombohedral lattice system is one of the seven lattice systems.

The trigonal attribute and threefold symmetry of Ruby's crystal structure reminds me of the Holy Trinity of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Three in One and One in Three. Ruby's membership in one of seven crystal systems and seven lattice systems reminds me of the number 7 representing spiritual perfection, fulness, and completion. Seven is also the number of Covenant and the Holy Spirit. These things combined with ruby's red color brings to mind so many things about Jesus.

Jesus is the Son of God, One of Three and a Third of One. Jesus' sinless life with us on earth confirmed He is spiritually perfect. Time and again He did things that fulfilled scripture, and His death and resurrection completed the plan for our salvation. He made a covenant with us, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20 NIV). After His ascension to heaven, He sent us the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).

Of course the most prominent attribute about ruby that reminds of Jesus is it's color, red. Red is the color of blood, and the red color of ruby always reminds me that Jesus shed His Blood for our sins. It is the Blood of Jesus that cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness.

Ruby, known as the 'King of Gemstones' has many attributes that remind of the 'King of Kings' when examined a little closer with an eye toward deeper things than just mere beauty.

NEXT POST: *The Gems of Exodus and Revelation - Ruby and Carnelian

*The Gems of Exodus and Revelation are presented in twelve monthly installments and will explore the similarities between the stones in the ephod (breastplate) of Aaron and the stones of the New Jerusalem, and their relation to Jesus.

Jewelry Casting and the Creator - Part Two

The Process
(Portions of the following paragraph will be highlighted throughout this series and you may want to refer back to it over the next posting weeks)

In the process of centrifugal casting, the old metal junk is placed into the crucible and melted with fire into a liquid state so that there is nothing left of its’ previous form, and the impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal. At this point all the impurities are removed with a pure quartz rod, or incinerated by the fire. In this liquid state the metal will actually follow the flame around the crucible as the impurities are being removed. When the impurities are gone and while the metal is still liquid, it takes on a “mirror finish”, indicating that it is time to activate the centrifugal casting machine to move the liquid metal into the new form (the cavity inside the plaster flask) which is waiting at the open end of the crucible. When the centrifugal casting machine is activated, the liquid metal moves instantly into the waiting plaster flask (which has been removed from the kiln and placed into the centrifuge) containing the new form for the metal. When the metal is cooled, the flask is then submerged into water (called quenching) and the plaster is broken away to reveal the new creation. The new creation is then separated from the “button”, which is all of the leftover metal from the entry point into the plaster flask. Then the finishing and polishing process begins, which can involve many steps including grinding, sanding, and polishing. These steps take the new creation to its’ final stage of beauty, an appearance that observers will appreciate and find pleasing. This is also the point where jewels and gems can be set to further enhance the new creations beauty.


“In the process of centrifugal casting, the old metal junk is placed into the crucible and melted with fire into a liquid state so that there is nothing left of its’ previous form, and the impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal”.

This process begins only after a decision is made that the old junk needs to be made new again. My customers believe in me and my ability to do what I tell them I can do with all their broken-down jewelry. This is much like our decision to follow Jesus Christ as our Savior. We believe in Jesus Christ and His ability to make us new again (Rev 21:5), and have Faith that He is who He says (Jhn 14:6-9) and can do what He says He can do (Jhn 3:16-18).


“The old metal junk is placed into the crucible and melted with fire into a liquid state so that there is nothing left of its’ previous form, and the impurities begin to surface from the liquid metal. It is at this point that all the impurities are removed with a pure quartz rod, or incinerated by the fire.”
Our old life and our old ways, the “old metal junk” of our lives gets placed into the crucible to be made ready for the new creation. This also makes me think of how we come under conviction of our sin. The purification process begins. More often in life than not, this process is likened to “going through the fire”, a refiners fire (Mal 3:2-3). This “fire” at first can seem painful because we are faced with looking at our sin and/or don’t want to let go of some things in our lives. Sometimes it’s things that we have put in front of our relationship with Jesus, and sometimes it’s just plain old SIN. But the refiners’ fire brings all the impurities to the surface so that they can be removed.

Illustrations of the 'lost wax' jewelry casting process

NEXT POST: JEWELRY CASTING AND THE CREATOR - PART THREE: THE REFINER'S FIRE