Each of the instruments used in Israel had its function in the life of the people, as described. Their customary uses also gave them symbolic significance, especially in the New Testament, which rarely mentions their actual use in music.
The clanging gong of the pagan temples, together with the clashing cymbal, suggests to the apostle Paul the outwardly impressive but inwardly empty life without true agapē love (1 Cor. 13:1). The trumpet (Greek salpingx; verb salpizō, “sound a trumpet”) conveys a varied symbolism. As the instrument used to signal the sacrificial offerings, it provided Jesus with an image of the ostentatious worshiper who announces his gift with much fanfare (Matt. 6:2). As an instrument used in warfare, it symbolizes for John the Revelator the judgments to be poured out against those who are unfaithful to the covenant. As the instrument that heralded the ascension of a king, it symbolizes for Paul the inauguration of the dominion of Christ in the new life of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52).
For John, the harp or lyre, so closely associated with the worship of the sanctuary, is emblematic of the church’s triumphant worship in the presence of God. The symbolic use of instruments has its antecedents in the Old Testament; in a remarkable passage that suggests a role for instruments in spiritual warfare, Isaiah portrays the defeat of the Assyrian enemy of the Lord’s people in these words: “Every stroke the Lord lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps” (Isa. 30:32).