Prophet Isaiah, who predicted the coming of Christ, holds tongs and a burning coal. Coal is a metaphor for kindling of a fire, the flames proceeding from the Lord who came down upon Sinai in smoke and fire. The Scroll suggests the gifts of a great writer of the Old Testament and represents the Prophet Ezekiel. His vision, expressed in Ezekiel I:5,10, anticipates the coming of the four evangelists.

Detail, Isaiah, North Windows.

The Cistern represents the Prophet Jeremiah. A cistern is a reservoir for holding or collecting water, water being the symbol of cleansing and purifying. Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons and Jeremiah was thrown into one (Jeremiah 38:6). Water represents the waters of eternal life. Water, mixed with wine, has come to denote Christ’s humanity; the wine His divinity.