The cross is the symbol of Christianity because it is how Jesus was killed to pay the penalty for sin. I find the cross to be a profound symbol of man seeking salvation with God in a literal way.
If we reach for God in an upward direction, at least symbolically, then the vertical piece of the cross represents the way to God. The transom, or cross-piece, of the cross represents the ways of the world. This is because the transom runs parallel, in the same direction, as the ground (or the world).
No matter how far a person walks on the flat ground, he will not get one iota closer to God. This is because God is upward, in a completely different direction. The ground represents the things that the world values. But no matter how much wealth, status, looks, power or, intelligence a person has, it cannot bring him any closer to God. The only way to God is in a completely different direction, upward.
The vertical piece of the cross represents the way to God. It takes the transom, the cross-piece, upon itself and points in the right direction, which is upward in the direction of God. The transom without the vertical piece could never point to God because it is pointing in a perpendicular direction.
The perpendicular direction in which the transom points is not the opposite of the direction to God, it is just a completely different direction. The opposite to the direction to God is to follow the vertical piece downward instead of upward. That is, symbolically, the direction to hell.
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