Holder of the Keys

"The descent of Christ could be no lower. He fathomed the fathomless, and met sin’s consequences at its last dark frontiers. He tasted death to its limits and tasted it for every man.

There is nothing in death or judgement He has not borne. In all its vast extent and utmost extremity, our Lord has answered it. There is no area in the vast abyss left unexplored. He holds the keys to death and hades.

  — Geoffrey T. Bull, The City and the Sign (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1970), page 95

HT: Of First Importance