In the verse following Simon's renaming as "Kepha", the Rock, Simon is given a very unique gift from Christ. Remember, Jesus just promised to build his Church on the "Kepha", the Rock, and promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against that Church. Then he says, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt 16:19) So Simon Peter received from Jesus Himself the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What does that mean, exactly? Protestants believe that unclear verses of the Bible should be read in relation to other verses that speak more clearly about the same subject (see Westminster Confession, ch 1, par IX). So, we will apply their own principle and see what we can find out about the meaning of this verse.
First, we read in Rev 3:7 that Jesus is the one who holds the key to the house of David in heaven. "The Holy One, the True, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open…" Sounds nearly identical to the verse in Matt 16, doesn't it? Once again, just as Jesus delegated his position as the rock and foundation of the Church to Peter, he also delegated his position as the key-holder and the one who opens and closes or binds and loosens in heaven and on earth. By this we can see that Peter alone among the disciples possesses a unique role and authority, which is from Christ, and is the earthly counterpart ordained by Christ to exercise on earth what Christ exercises in heaven. While it is true that all the disciples collectively received the power of binding and loosing in Matt 18, it is to Peter alone that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were entrusted, and to him first and primarily the power of binding and loosing were given.
What exactly does the position of key-holder mean, though? Scripture tells us: "Up go to that official, Shebna, master of the palace…I will clothe him with your robe and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens no one shall shut, when he shuts no one shall open." (Isaiah 22:15, 21-22) In these verses God removes an unfaithful steward, Shebna, and appoints a new Steward over the House of David. This Steward of the Kingdom is the holder of the key. He is the master of the palace, or High Steward, whose job it was to administer the house and wield the king's authority in his absence. Although this verse was written about the earthly Davidic kingdom, it is this verse that Jesus quoted when he appointed Peter as the key-holder, the master over the heavenly Kingdom. From the various elements of the verse of Isaiah, we see that this position includes:
1. Administering the king's household, which is the Church in the New Covenant.
2. Wielding the king's ruling authority in his absence, as Peter did when Christ ascended to heaven.
3. Fatherhood over all of Jerusalem and Judah in the old kingdom, and thus in the New Covenant fatherhood to all the Heavenly Jerusalem and New Israel, which is the Church. This is why the whole Church calls Peter's successor "the Holy Father". In fact, the word Pope means "Father".
So we see that Jesus' words, very clear and well-known to 1st century Jews because of their familiarity with Isaiah, unmistakably made Peter the first Steward of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the Church, and also the first "father" over the the people of God. It could hardly be more clearly expressed. Thus we see the second way in which Peter fulfilled a unique role of Christ, the Master of the Household of God.
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