The Three Masonic Columns
Representing the three pyramids on the Giza Plateau, which parallel the Newgrange complex in County Meath, Ireland: Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. They also represent the paths known as the Ida, Pingala, and Shusumna, as well as the three main Kabalistic Pillars of the Tree of Life. The ladder is also a metaphor for the steps of the pyramid reaching up toward heaven. The sun above the ladder is Jacob, or rather Jacob is a metaphorical character based on the sun. The British flag, called the "Union Jack" actually refers to the biblical and Masonic Jacob, or the sun. The so-called Temple of Solomon, and its two famous pillars, are believed to have been constructed by architect Hiram Abiff. In Druidic symbolism, Abiff was a Phoenician Druid or Elder.

Left: "The Three Pillars Tracing Board"

Incredibly, the symbol used for Satan in Islam is three pillars.  During the Hajj, a pilgrimage which all Muslims are required to make at least once in their lifetime, the ritual of  'Stoning of the Devil' as one of the series of ritual acts performed at Hajj, who is represented by three giant pillars.

All three jamarat (Pillars) represent the Devil: the first and largest represents his temptation of Abraham against sacrificing Ishmael, the second represents the temptation of Abraham's wife Hagar to induce her to stop him, and the third represents his temptation of Ishmael to avoid being sacrificed. He was rebuked each time, and the throwing of the stones symbolizes those rebukes.

http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/3pillars.html

From an early hand-painted Masonic apron. (right)

While the mystic symbolism of Freemasonry decrees that the apron shall be a simple square of white lambskin with appropriate flap, Masonic aprons are frequently decorated with curious and impressive figures. "When silk cotton, or linen is worn," writes Albert Pike, "the symbolism is lost. Nor is one clothed who blots, defaces, and desecrates the white surface with ornamentation, figuring, or colors of any kind."

To Mars, the ancient plane of cosmic energy, the Atlantean and Chaldean "star gazers" assigned Aries as a diurnal throne and Scorpio as a nocturnal throne. Those not raised to spiritual life by initiation are described as "dead from the sting of a scorpion," for they wander in the night side of divine power. Through the mystery of the Paschal Lamb, or the attainment of the Golden Fleece, these soul are raised into the constructive day Power of Mars in Aries--the symbol of the Creator.

When worn over the area related to the animal passions, the pure lambskin signifies the regeneration of the procreative forces and their consecration to the service of the Deity. The size of the apron, exclusive of the flap, makes it the symbol of salvation, for the Mysteries declare that it must consist of 144 square inches.
 

The apron shown above contains a wealth of symbolism: the beehive, emblematic of the Masonic lodge itself, the trowel, the mallet, and the trestleboad; the rough and trued ashlars; the pyramids and hills of Lebanon; the pillars, the Temple, and checkerboard floor; and the blazing star and tools of the Craft. The center of the apron is occupied by the compass and square, representative of the Macrocosm an the microcosm, and the alternately black and white serpent of astral light. Below is an acacia branch with seven sprigs, signifying the life Centers of the superior and the inferior man. The skull and cross bones are a continual reminder that the spiritual nature attains liberation only after the philosophical death of man's sensuous personality.