O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
Isaiah 22:22 and Isaiah 42:7
Christians will tell you that Jesus is the single and exclusive means of salvation. The key of David is the key to the Kingdom. It opens. It shuts. Jesus in this antiphon doesn't HAVE the key; he IS the key. This takes us into "cosmic Christ" territory, but that's where we need to be in order to fathom the freeing of prisoners and the enlightening of those in darkness and in the shadow of death.
When we pray "Almighty God, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom," we are talking about that eternal life and the freedom that is ours when we surrender to Christ. It is this release that we pray for in this antiphon.
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