http://wp.me/pzoQb-sN shows how to draw to MAX7219 8x8 matrix displays, this gist shows how the convert the numbers while rotating without the use of a 0|1 matrix

rotate-8x8-matrix-char_convert-while-rotating-no-matrix.lua

local rotate = function(char, rotateleft)
  local tab = {}
  local newTable = {}

  local numberToString = function(number, base, minLen)
    local s = ""
    repeat
      local remainder = number % base
      s = remainder .. s
      number = (number - remainder) / base
    until number == 0
    if #s < minLen then
      -- pad the string with 0s
      for i = 1, minLen - #s do s = "0" .. s end
    end
    return s
  end

  -- rather than creating a matrix this creates a table with 8 rows, each one is a binary string
  for _, v in ipairs(char) do table.insert(tab, numberToString(v, 2, 8)) end

  -- WARNING, left/right ignored here
  -- rotate and turn binary string back to number
  for i = 8, 1, -1 do
    local s = ""
    for j = 1, 8 do
      local r = tab[j]
      s = s .. r:sub(i, i)
    end
    table.insert(newTable, tonumber(s, 2))
  end
end

-- char '1' in CP437
local char = { 0x40, 0x42, 0x7F, 0x7F, 0x40, 0x40, 0x00, 0x00 }

-- transformation.rotate is nil, 'left' or 'right'
if transformation.rotate ~= nil then
  char = rotate(char, transformation.rotate == "left")
end