The design for this cross comes from the side of the Ruthwell cross. The Ruthwell cross is almost 17 feet high, is thought to be from the 7th century, and is located inside the parish church of Ruthwell, Scotland. The vine running the length of the cross is the tree of life, which symbolizes life in all its variety, and provides a link between heaven and earth. Birds are symbols of freedom and transcendence: returning to earth, they bring messages of prophecy and guidance, aiding mortals on their spiritual and earthy journeys.

The runic inscription on the sides of the shaft is part of an Old English poem known as ‘The Dream of the Rood’. The rood (the cross) is the narrator: Almighty God stripped himself as he prepared to climb the gallows, valiant in men’s sight... I raised up a great king, Lord of Heaven. I dared not bow down. Men reviled us both together... Yet to him in his solitude came noble men, eager, from afar. I beheld it all. I was bitterly troubled with griefs. I bowed... wounded with arrows. Down they laid that limb-weary one. There they beheld...