This icon depicts the event of Christ’s descent into Hades, fulfilling the prophecies after His death on the Cross on Good Friday. Some key components in this icon:
- Christ’s cape/robe is flowing upward, which symbolizes his radical descent into Hades to save those who have died in the flesh.
- Additionally, below Christ’s feet you find the gates of Hades broken (in the shape of a cross because it is by His cross that He entered and overcame Hades); you also find broken keys and shackles, as well as Satan bound and defeated.
- The golden bars by his feet are the gates of Hades, which he has broken and torn apart. Keys are floating in the abyss below, which symbolizes that he has entered and conquered both death and Hades.
- You may also note the skeletal figure who is chained up: that is Death and/or Satan. Christ has bound and killed him, which is why all throughout Pascha we sing “Christ has trampled down death by death.” The icon depicts Hebrews 2:14, “that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” The power of the devil and death were destroyed by the life-giving death of our Savior.
- The two figures whom Christ has grasped and is pulling from tombs are Adam and Eve. This gesture symbolizes his victory which redeems all mankind, even back to the beginning. It also foreshadows the general resurrection of the body before the Final Judgment.
- Surrounding the Lord are many characters from the Old Testament, who prophesied about His coming, His birth, suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead. Some prophets included are King David with his harp and Moses carrying the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.
- The blue shape around Christ is called the Mandorla (which is Italian for almond, which describes its shape). The Mandorla is the uncreated, eternal light of Christ. In the writings of the Eastern Orthodox mystics, God is often prayerfully experienced as light. This is not simply a pretty bright light. It’s the light which filled the apostles with wonder when they witnessed His Transfiguration. Christ Himself described it as the power of the Kingdom of God (Mark 9:1 Matt 16:28 Luke 9:27). It is the light that filled the once perpetual darkness of Hades when Christ descended and brought life into the realm of death. Lastly, it is the light that is seen when one purifies their heart and mind, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.