Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, was the overseer in King Hezekiah's household in Judah. He played a central role during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem and was described by the prophet Isaiah as God's chosen servant who would bear the key to the house of David. His position and the prophecy concerning him point forward to the authority of the Messiah.
21I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
25On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the load hanging on it will be destroyed. For the LORD has spoken.
18They called for the king, and Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.
26Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
37Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him what the Rabshakeh had said.
Eliakim asked Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic instead of Hebrew so that the people on the wall would not understand the threats. Rabshakeh refused and spoke even louder.
11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
12But the Rabshakeh said, "Was it to your master and to you that my lord sent me to say these things? Was it not to the men sitting on the wall, who will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine along with you?"
22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
After hearing Rabshakeh's threats, Eliakim and the others tore their clothes in mourning and went to the prophet Isaiah to seek God's word and guidance.
2He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and the senior priests, all of them covered in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
3They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, of rebuke and disgrace. Children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives."
Isaiah prophesied that Eliakim would become like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the house of Judah, and that God would give him authority and honor like a peg driven into a firm place.
21I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
The prophecy that the key of the house of David would be placed on Eliakim's shoulder was later referenced in Revelation concerning Christ, who holds the key of David and opens so that no one can shut.
7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.