The number three (3) has always been one of the 'mystical' numbers of the Bible and certainly the Masonic degrees. The Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry is no different and really goes further in seeking explanations of the numbers of the several degrees of Freemasonry. It is all based on the ode of the Royal Arch Masons, that of, "As we three, did agree..."
Three comes to us in the very first verse of the Bible which says, "In the beginning, God created heaven and the earth." The number three is contained within the word "God" and as we shall see, the second verse, second sentence, tells us about what is contained (one part) in God when it says, "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Now we have 'two' parts in one, but still one God.
In the third verse, the third part comes as a verb with an unexplained objective when it says, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." What was said? No one knows, for man was not there, and to find a reasonable answer, we must travel to the "second" Genesis, the book of John, first verse: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..." The second verse substantiates the first by saying, "The same was in the beginning with God."
For a believing Mason of the Christian persuasion, this is sufficient to proceed further in our Masonic search for truth, but let us dwell a little while longer in our search for the simple meanings of the complexities of the Royal Arch degree. The third verse of John tells us that, "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." John has given the "Word" human-like qualities, by calling the Word, him, for the Word was now flesh and blood, walking among men and women, as per verses four and five, that "In Him was life; and life was the light of men." "And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." How true are the word so long ago. Masons have long viewed the world 'light' as intelligence, and 'darkness' as ignorance. Hence, when a Royal Arch Mason talks about 530 years of darkness, the principal secrets 'brought to light,' he speaks of knowledge that has lost its meaning with mankind, but has now been regained. As in the Royal Arch degree work, "it calls for great celebration."
Hosea 4:6 speaks of what the lack of knowledge, or ignorance, can do for an individual or an entire race or nation. The verse says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shall be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law, I will also forget thy children."
"Ignorance causes a multitude of sins, envy and jealousy being but two of them. Knowledge will sometimes be put into the background when these two adversaries come to fore. Knowledge is a natural enemy to ignorance, and vice versa. Yet, if "two or three agree..." Agreement lends to fact, and points all on to the road of truth. With agreement, comes "peace, and love, and unity."
It takes three officers to occupy 'stations' in a Lodge; three principal stages in a man's life, youth, manhood and old age; three supports in a Lodge; three jewels in each degree of Symbolic Freemasonry; three principal order of architect and three principal human senses. All agree! There are three witnesses needed to make a fact, and Jesus calls upon them in heaven and on earth in I John 5:7-8. Heaven gives us, the "Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." The earth gives us, "the Blood, the Water and the Spirit." All Testify to one fact, and it is in agreement!
In the movement of the camp of the Israelites while they traveled through the wilderness, there were three tribes in each geographic point, all coming under the banner of one. They all bear witness that their side is secure and strong. The tribes themselves were made up of sons born to three different women, all by one father, forming one nation. With these things in mind, "Then we three do agree..."