The newly obligated Entered Apprentice frequently is overcome with the many lessons found within the first degree of Masonry and must recognize this degree, along with the others, is a journey to understanding and knowledge, not its conclusion. One illustration of this can be found in two parts of the degree and the meanings found in two homonyms, gage and gauge.

To most, a "gage" represents a challenge, normally a glove or gauntlet thrown on the ground, pledging one's appearance in support of his assertions or honor. But to the Freemason, there is the older meaning of something of value deposited to insure the performance of a pledge or action, and liable to forfeiture. Thus while the lesson in the Northeast corner carries a lesson in charity, there is likewise a challenge to the EA to honor that pledge henceforth through his actions toward his Brothers and those in the outer world. The wages of a Freemason are his "gage" and duty.

Shortly thereafter the "twenty-four gauge" is presented and explained. This gauge, or rule, has long been associated with masons and carpenters as sign of their profession. Even the opening scene of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" has the lines, "Where is thy leather apron and thy rule?", in a address to a carpenter. For centuries, the gauge has been an operative tool of measurement, estimation, and testing. Thus is the spectulative challenge most important to the EA to measure his time and his service to the Great Architect, his family, the Craft, humanity, and himself.

The three-fold twenty-four inch gauge was commonly carried about in the 1700's for measuring, not just by carpenters and masons. Measurements were a part of daily life, in the operative sense, but the Freemason must look beyond and seek deeper meaning in this common tool. Whether it is the "gage" of challenge or the "gauge" of measurement, each day, each twenty-four hours, is a test of how he, and each of us, manages that most precious gift of time in the journey of life.