The Cross & The Crucifixion Process: Indications Of Re-usable Posts (Thoughts On This Likely Actuality).

When Christ was crucified, He was nailed to a Cross, and suspended upon the Cross; the Cross being lifted up by means of a rope and pulley.

In the Syriac of Ignatius' letter to the Ephesians, .9., Ignatius clarifies this to us, writing:
"And you are prepared for the building of GOD the Father,
and you are raised up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross,
and you are drawn by the rope, which is the Holy Spirit;
and your pulley, is your Faith

The drawing up of the Cross, by rope-and-pulley, was accomplished by means of metal stakes that were driven mid-way into the Cross; and protruded above the heads of those crucified on literal a literal cross. 

"For the antenna, which is part of the Cross, the ends are called horns; while the mid-way stake of the whole frame is the Unicorn. His Cross is then, by this virtue and in this manner, "horned". He is both now pushing all nations through Faith, bearing them away from Earth to Heaven; and will then push them through Judgment, casting them down from Heaven to Earth." 
(Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book 3, Chapter 18)

Again, in "An Answer to the Jews", Tertullian explains:
"For even in the ship's yard -- this is the name by which the extremities are called, which is a part of (the Cross), -- the central pole of a mast is (called) a ‘unicorn’. In fact, by this power and in and in this manner (is) the Cross ‘horned’." 
(Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews, .10)

The connection point of the beam that the crucified were to carry to the unicorn stake, which was pre-driven in the ground, suggests a re-use of the same poles in which the connection point was where the mid-way stakes began, and perhaps were either wedged or bolted secure.  The rope & pulley lifted a hanging crucified one, pre-nailed at ground level through the wrists and tied into place, then taken up by some kind of rope & pulley crane by contracted civilian artisans attached to the Roman armies, then lowered into the slot, where the cross beam is then pushed in home & bolted / "fixed with pins"--

 Irenaeus likened the Cross, which is plated together with iron, after the parable of Matthew Chapter 13, to being the “plough of GOD”, by which the Almighty “turns up the earth” (i.e., mankind):

“He has firmly displayed the plough, in that the wood has been joined on to the iron, and has thus cleansed His Land; because the WORD, having been firmly united to flesh, and in its mechanisms fixed with pins, has reclaimed the savage earth. In the beginning, He figured forth the pruning- hook by means of Abel, pointing out that there should be a gathering in of a race of Righteous men.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies,, 4.34.4)

 -- or perhaps even wedged (depending on the iron plate connection, and use of gravity so it hangs like a wedged peg perhaps?),

 the feet tied and then a final spike through the ankle appears to be the actual ancient procedure, carried out by artisans under the direction & oversight of Roman Guards, not hands on done by the Guards themselves.  

"Talah" (תלה), is a Hebrew verb that means, "to hang". When used in Isaiah 22:24, Talah is used to describe a "hanging like a peg" (perhaps 'on a wall' would be a best word picture illustration for us). In Psalm 137:2, Talah is descriptive of the "hanging" of a (traveling) musician's lyre upon a tree in a foreign land.

In Deuteronomy 21:22ff, after the offender 'worthy of death' is stoned dead, he is then impaled and "hung upright" as though a dead image. Yet, quite often, the neurological system is still somewhat active, as many corpses may still have the post mortem "quivers". This aspect is important, because TaLaH (as a root word) has a derivative in the Hebrew word "teli" (תלי), which literally means: "to quiver". The nails pierced the hands of Christ through the bone in the bend of the hands at the wrists, right through the major nerves. This will make the hands go limp, the thumbs to bend into the palms, and the arms to quiver. Add a mildly breezy cold day in March, and strip Messiah of all garments, and the whole body will shiver and shake. So it is at this point that the next passage of Deuteronomy strikes home between Jew and Gentile unbelievers alike, as the literal reading of Deuteronomy 28:66 (in light of this) tells them:
"And your LIFE shall be hanging and quivering before you,
and you shall tremble with fear, and dread night and day,
because you do not believe into your LIFE."
 (Translation Mine)

The LIFE that is talked about in Deuteronomy 28:66 is YHVeH Messiah, who is the way, and the truth, and the LIFE (John 14:6); who for us men and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and offered Himself as a ransom/sacrifice for our sins. 

“YHVeH is made known in the Judgment He has made and brought about:
in the work of the bend of His Hands
[.i.e., in His wrists]

are the wicked ensnared (as in a noose). A Meditation. Selah!”
 (Psalm 9:16, translation mine)

The early Church Fathers, such as Justin Martyr, demonstrated that the Cross is part of our human existence, present in masts of ships, in shovels, in the carrying of banners, in mechanical engineering, and so forth (Justin Martyr, First Apology, .55).  The essential wood in those instruments, of masts and shovels and the like, are Lebanese cedar, having a red tone and oak-like strength.  Therefore, even as Adam means “the reddish one”, so too, might it be that the mast or vertical beam of the Cross, be made of the red-toned cedars of Lebanon.  And this is appropriate, too, as that very wood is also used in direct reference to Jerusalem and those who dwell there as if they were as prosperous and strong as the cedar trees of Lebanon (Psalm 92:12-13, Song of Solomon 4:15-16, Isaiah 10:32-34, 29:17ff.).  There again, we see a direct symbolism of the Cross with Jerusalem, which once had a house of Lebanese Cedar for the “ruler of Peace”(Isaiah 9:16) who like example was called “Solomon” (I Kings 7:1-12, 10:17, 10:21): the same Solomon, whose cedar house of Lebanon was once prominently displayed as the pride and joy of its king, in Jerusalem. 

I believe the horizontal beam of the Cross to have been made of Acacia.   

Thus giving the Cross a trinity (having 3 material origins and being one singular object) an allegory for Scriptural interpretation of John 10:16,  two distinct and differing woods, cut down and united by iron pins.  

I believe that the vertical beam of the Cross, to which Messiah’s feet were nailed  was very likely or most likely to have been made of the cedars of Lebanon.  The Crossbeam, to which the bends of Messiah’s wrists were pierced, I believe to very likely or most likely to have been made out of Acacia. And when the stakes were driven, prophecy was fulfilled in that not one of His bones was broken (Psalm 34:20).  And unfortunately, for us to imagine a Cross not having iron as part of the crossbeam connection point may well be contradicting early Christian knowledge or at least 2nd Century AD tradition passed down to that time of what happened in the century before that of the matter.

Something new to consider in its historical context for almost every one of us, perhaps?   But then, for now, that's my input.

Amen.