The rejected stone became the chief cornerstone — and Jesus quoted the line about Himself, in the temple, to the builders, days before they rejected Him.
The Shadow
Psalm 118 closes the Hallel, the set of psalms Israel sang at Passover — which means it was almost certainly the hymn Jesus sang with His disciples the night before the cross. Inside it sits a small drama about a construction site. A stone is inspected by the professionals, the men who know stone, and judged unusable. Thrown on the reject pile. And God walks to that pile, picks up that stone, and makes it the chief cornerstone — the one stone that sets the lines for everything else that will ever be built. This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. The same psalm carries another line the Gospels made famous: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the very words the crowds shouted on Palm Sunday.
The Fulfillment
In His final week, standing in the temple, Jesus finished the parable of the vineyard by quoting this exact verse to the chief priests and elders: have you never read in the Scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone? He was telling the builders, to their faces, which stone they were holding. The experts examined Him and threw Him away. Weeks later Peter stood before the same council and closed the loop: this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.
Here is what the psalm insists on: the rejection was not the plan derailing. It was the plan. God sourced the cornerstone from the reject pile, and called it marvelous.
Him All Along
Your Savior was rejected by the qualified and vindicated by God — which means the verdicts of qualified people are not the final word over you either. Peter goes on to call believers living stones, built on the One the builders refused. The cornerstone sets the lines for the whole building. Whoever believes on Him, the Scripture promises, will by no means be put to shame.