Landmarks of Life

The boundary stones marking the District of Columbia are the oldest federally placed monuments in the United States. On July 16, 1790, the Residence Act authorized President George Washington to choose a 100-square-mile site for the nation’s capital. Under his direction, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson selected Major Andrew Ellicott to survey a 10-mile square on the Potomac River between Alexandria, Virginia, and Williamsport, Maryland. Ellicot began his work on February 12, 1791.

With the help of Benjamin Banneker, the first boundary stone was placed on the southernmost point of the D.C. diamond. Then working clockwise, the team placed 39 additional stones. Each block of Aquia Creek sandstone, which weighed about a half ton, was chiseled with inscriptions indicating the territory it faced, the year it was placed, and a compass reading.

Over the years, four of the forty original stones were lost. In a 2011 survey using modern technology, the locations of the stones were found to be remarkably accurate, sometimes off by only six feet! Some of the original markers are located in people’s yards, one in a cemetery, another in a median strip, and still another in a church parking lot. Each year a group of “D.C. Diamond Hikers” walks the diamond to commemorate these ancient landmarks.

Today we can accurately check property boundary lines with GPS readings, but in Bible times all they had were ancient landmark stones that were established in place with sacred covenants. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, instructions were given to respect boundaries: “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess” (Deuteronomy 19:14). In fact, people were cursed if they moved them (27:17).

God was the first surveyor on our planet. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? … Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?” (Job 38:4, 5). More precisely, God’s Word and law provide the true unmovable landmarks of life. I choose to stand by the solid precepts found in the Bible. The measurement and placement of these principles are exactly where the Lord wants them to be.

Additional reading: Proverbs 22:17–29

Key Bible Texts

Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. (Proverbs 22:28 KJV)