Why does the Chapter speak of the Sacred and Mysterious Name?

The designation of the Sacred and Mysterious Name rests upon the concept of the true name of God, which symbolizes and represents the self-existent essence of the Creator 1. This concept is tied directly to the Tetragrammaton, referred to in Rabbinical tradition as the separated name because, unlike other divine names derived from works, it is drawn from the substance of God in which no other thing participates 1.

Legend relates that Enoch, inspired by a vision, constructed a subterranean temple of nine perpendicular vaults beneath Mount Moriah 1. On a triangular plate of gold encrusted upon agate, Enoch engraved this true name of God and placed it upon the Stone of Foundation within the lowest arch 1. Following the Deluge and the deaths of Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, all knowledge of the subterranean vault and the Sacred and Ineffable Name inscribed within it was lost for generations 1.

Traditional accounts connect this lost inscription to the subsequent excavation of the Temple's foundations at Jerusalem 1. The stone bearing the divine name was brought to light once more, preserving the tradition of a subterranean vault and the sacred repository beneath 1. The Royal Arch tradition treats this divine name as central because it represents the self-existent reality of God, concealed and preserved through antiquity beneath the arches 1.

The central cubical focus resting upon the floor represents the descent of divine Light into the material framework of man 2. Having appeared in earlier stages high above and as a glimmering ray in the East, this central symbol descends completely to rest at the centre of the assembly, bearing the Sacred and Ineffable Name along with the names of Solomon and the two Hirams 2. Grouped about this central sacred symbol are nine officers arranged in three distinct triads 2.

Symbolically, this arrangement reflects a structural repolarization within the psychical organization of the candidate, signifying that the fontal source of consciousness has descended into the physical organism to take root substantially and permanently 2. Through this descent and union, the vital and immortal principle supersedes the temporal life-principle, establishing the individual upon a new centre of incorruptible life 2.