1. Exposition

What is the firm place that has been given?

Ezra 9:8 (ESV)

8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.

A firm place is a translation of the Hebrew which literally refers to a nail or tent peg (see Isaiah 22:23; Isaiah 33:20; Isaiah 54:2).1 Just as the erecting of a tent begins with a stake driven into the ground, the rebuilding of the nation of Israel is begun with the escaped remnant serving as the initial foothold.