In Part II, Chapter IV, Chesterton explains that when Christ founded his Church, he described the authority he gave to his Apostles with the metaphor of a key. He also notes the way in which this metaphor is actually incredibly fitting for the Christian faith. Like a key, the Christian faith promised to unlock the chains that bound mankind to sin. Further, like a key, the Christian faith had a very specific shape which, if it was lost, would compromise the whole.
The Everlasting Man