Bible Encyclopedias
Eagle (2)

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

in the Church of England, the desk or lecturn from which the lessons are read is often in the form of an eagle with outspread wings. The usage is probably derived from the fact that, in ecclesiastical symbolism, the eagle is the accompanying symbol of the apostle John (see Jamieson, Sacred and Legendary Art, 1:137).