Jesus was rejected by men as unusable building material; that is, he was condemned and crucified. God, however, disagreed with people’s assessment (1 Peter 2:4), raised Jesus from the dead, and judged him to be the most fitting stone for his building. In a similar way, Peter’s readers, “born again…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3), are “living” stones suitable for God’s spiritual house, no matter what people think. Further, builders need to choose which stones fit where, depending on the location in the wall as well as the shape of the neighbouring stone. When Solomon built his temple, stones had to be carved from a quarry and shaped to fit beside the neighbouring stone (1 Kings 6:7). So the Lord shapes a person as a “living” stone to fit the need in the wall of his spiritual house. (See further 1 Corinthians 12:1–31, with its emphasis on each person having/receiving their own unique gifts.)
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.