The building of the temple began at Mount Moriah, 1 Kings 6:1-38 / 2 Chronicles 3:1, on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, 2 Chronicles 3:1 / 1 Chronicles 21:18 / Genesis 22:2. This was the place which David prepared, 2 Samuel 24:17-25 / 1 Chronicles 21:16-26.
The temple was built on Moriah, but the city was built on Zion. The building of the temple began, which was four hundred and eighty years after Israel came out of Egypt, 1 Kings 6:1, which is a reference to the exodus, around 1445 B.C. 2 Chronicles 3:2.
Up until this point, the tabernacle was used and moved around to different tribal areas, which was God’s intention. Solomon reigned from 971 to 931 B.C., 1 Kings 6:1, which means the fourth year of his reign would have been 967 B.C.
Notice this happened in Solomon’s fourth year of reign, 2 Chronicles 3:2. The delay of four years was probably due to the problems in collecting all the materials which were needed to build it, 1 Kings 6:1.
Notice that the temple is also called ‘the house’, KJV, 1 Kings 6:2 / 1 Kings 6:16, or ‘the house of the Lord’, 1 Kings 16:1. A cubit is around eighteen inches, which means the temple would have been around ninety feet long, thirty feet wide and forty-five feet high, 1 Kings 6:2 / 2 Chronicles 3:3.
The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is, twenty cubits, that is, thirty feet wide and projected ten cubits, that is, fifteen feet from the front of the temple, 1 Kings 6:3 / 2 Chronicles 3:4. This was the place of the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, 1 Kings 7:21.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The measures of the temple, both ‘house’ and porch, 1 Kings 6:3, were exactly double those of the older tabernacle, Exodus 26:18.’
He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls, and against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary, he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms, 1 Kings 6:4-5.
The lowest floor was five cubits, that is, seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor six cubits, that is, nine feet and the third floor seven, that is, eleven feet, 1 Kings 6:5. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls, 1 Kings 6:6.
He panelled the main hall with juniper and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs, 2 Chronicles 3:5. He adorned the temple with precious stones and the gold he used was gold of Parvaim, 2 Chronicles 3:6.
He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls, and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls, 2 Chronicles 3:7. In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built, 1 Kings 6:7.
The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple and a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third, 1 Kings 6:8 / 1 Kings 6:2.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The chambers on the ground-floor were possibly reached each by its own door in the outer wall of the lean-to. The middle and upper floors were reached by a single door in the right or south wall, from which a winding staircase ascended to the second tier, while another ascended from the second to the third. The door to the stairs was in the outer wall of the building, not in the wall between the chambers and the temple. That would have desecrated the temple far more than the insertion of beams.’
It’s worth noting that the temple wasn’t built as a place for everyone to gather together, but rather as a place in which they could place the ark of the covenant and other items which were in the tabernacle.
Remember when the tabernacle was built, the pattern they used was from God, given to Moses when he was up the mountain, Exodus 25-31. The tabernacle was built according to God’s measurements and requirements. The internal fittings were added afterwards, 1 Kings 6:9 / 1 Kings 6:15-22.
However, notice here the phrase, ‘he built’, 1 Kings 6:9-10. This tells us that the temple was being built by Solomon’s instructions, not God’s. In other words, the temple was David’s idea and Solomon putting his idea together, but it was never God’s idea; He never commanded a temple to be built in the first place, 2 Samuel 7:6-7.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Some think that this is the same revelation as that mentioned 1 Kings 9:2, which took place after the dedication of the temple but to me it appears different it was a word to encourage him while building, to warn him against apostasy, and to assure him of God’s continued protection of him and his family, if they continued faithful to the grace which God had given.’
God tells Solomon that he needs to follow His decrees, observe His laws, keep all of His commands, and obey them, 1 Kings 6:11-12. If Solomon does these things, then God will fulfil the promise he made to David, 1 Kings 6:12, and He will live among His people and not abandon them, 1 Kings 6:13.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The promises made to David were as follows.
1. That he should be succeeded by one of his sons, 2 Samuel 7:12 / Psalms 132:11.
2. That the kingdom should be established in the line of his descendants forever, if they were faithful, Psalms 132:12.
3. That the Israelites should be no more afflicted than before, 2 Samuel 7:10.
These promises are now confirmed to Solomon, but on the express condition of obedience, and two further promises are added.’ ‘The first promise to ‘dwell among’ the Israelites had been made to Moses, Exodus 25:8 / Exodus 29:45, but had not been repeated to David. The next promise, ‘I will not forsake, etc.,’ if not absolutely new, seems to have been more positive and general than previous similar promises, Deuteronomy 31:6 / Deuteronomy 31:8 / Joshua 1:5. God will not at any time or under any circumstances wholly forsake Israel.’
I find it interesting that the word of God comes to Solomon, whilst Solomon is in the middle of building the temple, 1 Kings 6:11. One possible reason for this was that God saw that the religious pride of His people had moved from the temple of God in heaven, where God reigns, to a physical temple on earth where God would reside.
Over a period of time, Israel forgot what the purpose of the tabernacle was all about, and Israel would soon make the same mistake again, concerning the temple, Hosea 4:6.
Solomon built the temple and completed it, 1 Kings 6:14 / 1 Kings 8:1 / 2 Chronicles 5:1 / 2 Chronicles 7:1 / 2 Chronicles 8:1.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following concerning 2 Chronicles 3:8.
‘This height, which so much exceeds that of the main building, 1 Kings 6:2, is probably to be corrected by the reading of the Arabic Version and the Alexandrian Septuagint, ‘twenty cubits’, 2 Chronicles 3:9.’
Solomon covered the building with cedarwood, 1 Kings 6:15-16 / 1 Kings 6:18 / 1 Kings 6:20 / 1 Kings 6:36 / 1 Kings 6:9-10, and covered the most holy place with gold, 1 Kings 6:20-22 / 1 Kings 6:30 / 1 Kings 6:32 / 2 Chronicles 3:9. All of this tells us that the temple was built with the best materials they had available and Solomon used the best labourers he could find to do the job.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The upper chambers mentioned here do not conform to any architectural description, either of their utility, or their exact location. The whole chapter appears to have a strange mixture of things that Solomon was instructed to do, and did not do, and of things which he did contrary to God’s will.’
Notice there was gold everywhere, but especially in the Most Holy Place. The walls were covered with gold, 1 Kings 6:20-22, the floor was covered with gold, 1 Kings 6:30, and gold was hammered into the carvings on the doors, 1 Kings 6:32.
The temple was made up of three different parts, firstly, there was a portico, which was outside the temple and faced east, 1 Kings 6:15-16 / 2 Chronicles 3:4-7 / 1 Kings 6:3.
This was the place of the two pillars, 2 Chronicles 3:15 / Jachin and Boaz, 1 Kings 7:21. Secondly, there was the temple itself, 1 Kings 6:17-18. Notice there were two pillars put in place, 1 Kings 7:15 / 2 Chronicles 3:15 / 2 Kings 25:17 / Jeremiah 52:21.
There is a difference in the pillars’ heights between this account and that given in the Kings; however, although the accounts in Kings and Chronicles vary as to the exact dimensions of these pillars, they will still be the same anyway. The name Jachin means ‘He will establish’ and the name Boaz means ‘In it is strength’, 1 Kings 3:17 / 2 Chronicles 3:17.
Finally, there was the inner sanctuary, 1 Kings 6:19-22, which contained the altar of cedar that was overlaid with gold; this was the most holy place or the holy of holies. This is where the cherubim and the ark of the covenant were kept, Exodus 25:18 / Exodus 26:33.
The cherubim, 1 Kings 6:23-28 / 2 Chronicles 3:10-13, symbolised protection and they were located above the ark in order to symbolise God’s protection of the covenant, Exodus 25:20 / Psalm 80:1 / Isaiah 37:16 / Ezekiel 10:3. It also had a veil in place, which was made of the exact same colours as the veil of the tabernacle, Exodus 26:31 / Matthew 27:51 / Hebrews 10:19-20.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These colossal figures violated all of Moses’ instructions regarding their use in the tabernacle. They were not supposed to fill up the house but were intended to decorate the mercy seat, which was in fact a lid for the ark of the covenant. Furthermore, they were not supposed to ‘face the house’ but to be in a posture of peering down intently into the mercy seat. One may find what these figurines were supposed to be in Exodus 25. They were to face each other, with their wings overshadowing the mercy seat, not to be standing side by side facing the outer sanctuary. Their wings were to pertain not to the whole Holy of Holies, but to the mercy seat alone. The apostle Peter referred to the symbolic significance of these cherubim in 1 Peter 1:12.’
The angels were like guards for the ark of the covenant, and they were half the height of the room. The room itself was around thirty feet high, and there were carvings of angels, trees, and flowers on the walls, 1 Kings 6:23-28 / 1 Kings 6:35. The most holy place was the place where they offered sacrifices for sin.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the cherubim, 1 Kings 6:23-28 / 2 Chronicles 3:10-13.
‘The original cherubs were entirely of gold. These, being so much larger, were of wood, merely overlaid with a golden plating. The arrangement of the wings and the direction of the faces also seem to have been different. Moses’ cherubim ‘covered with their wings over the mercy seat’, Solomon’s stretched out theirs to the full, 1 Kings 6:27, so that the four wings, each five cubits long 1 Kings 6:24, extended across the whole sanctuary, the width of which was twenty cubits, 1 Kings 6:20. The former looked toward one another, and were bent downward toward the mercy-seat; the latter looked outward, toward the great chamber, 2 Chronicles 3:13.’
Pomegranates were very small in size, but their fruit is very refreshing, 1 Samuel 14:2. The pomegranate was used in the temple as decorative pieces, 2 Chronicles 3:16 / 1 Kings 7:18 / 1 Kings 7:20 / Exodus 28:31 / Exodus 28:33-34. Their shape came to symbolise the fertility of the promised Land, Numbers 13:23 / Deuteronomy 8:3.
He built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, 1 Kings 6:36 / 2 Chronicles 4:9. You will notice that there is no mention of a veil in Solomon’s plans; the veil is the curtain which separated the holy place from the most holy place, Exodus 26:31-35. For some reason, Solomon didn’t include the veil in his plans, but it was later introduced into the temple after the Babylonian captivity, Matthew 27:51.
Because it took seven years to complete, 1 Kings 6:37-38 / 1 Kings 6:1, this tells us that Solomon took his time to get every detail of the temple correct, including its contents. Despite all the effort to build such a wonderful structure, Solomon’s temple was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
After the Babylonian captivity, the remnant of Israel began to build the temple again in 536 B.C., but struggled to continue with the build because they knew it would never be as wonderful as Solomon’s original temple, Ezra 3:12.
Even though Herod the Great built another temple in its place during his reign, it looked nothing as wonderful as Solomon’s original temple. And of course, this temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans.