The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 21, Solomon Builds The Temple, Part Three: The Interior Of The Temple And The Cherubim

Yesterday we studied the outer dimensions of the temple. Today we'll look at how the interior was finished and we'll talk about two large statues that Solomon commissioned to be fashioned for the temple.

"So Solomon built the temple and completed it. He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar; no stone was to be seen." (1 Kings 6:14-18) These fine woods were those Solomon contracted to purchase from King Hiram of Tyre. The outer walls of the temple are of stone but the inner walls, ceiling, and floor are of wood. I imagine the wood had the insulating effect of muffling sounds from outside but I think perhaps the main reason the interior was made of wood was so it could be overlaid with gold. We are going to learn that Solomon had all the inner surfaces plated with gold.

The inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place, is where the ark of the covenant will be housed. This is the place where only the high priest of Israel may enter once a year on the Day of Atonement. You'll recall that the tabernacle had a partitioned area that housed the ark of the covenant. (Exodus 40:3) In the tabernacle the entrance into the Most Holy Place was shielded with a woven curtain with cherubim embroidered on it; in the temple the entrance to the Most Holy Place will be shielded by a curtain made of gold chains with golden cherubim standing on each side of the ark. 

"He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary." (1 Kings 6:19-22) Below I'm inserting a photo of a model of the temple that depicts what the interior might have looked like.

"For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high." (1 Kings 6:23) Ten cubits equals approximately fifteen feet. "One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits---ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip." (1 Kings 6:24) The wingspan of each cherub is fifteen feet, so they are as wide as they are tall. "The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold." (1 Kings 6:25-28) In the photo above we get an idea of the positioning of the cherubim within the Most Holy Place. These two cherubim face outwards, toward the entrance, and the two cherubim on the ark face each other across the mercy seat.

Many scholars feel that the layout of the temple and the Most Holy Place are intended to symbolize the layout of the temple and Most Holy Place in heaven. The Most Holy Place in the temple on earth was not an exact replica of the one in heaven, perhaps because no man had ever been there to see it in person, and the Apostle Paul refers to the Most Holy Place in the temple as "a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven". (Hebrews 8:5) It was a copy fashioned to the best of man's ability with the limited knowledge man had of what is in heaven. It was a "shadow" because the glory and perfection of the earthly temple paled in comparison to the glory and perfection of the holiest place of all. There is no doubt that Solomon's temple was stunning to behold. But I think the sight of the Most Holy Place in heaven will knock our socks off! I think it will be a breathtaking, jaw dropping sight to behold.

But nothing we'll see in heaven will compare to seeing the face of our Redeemer! Out of His goodness and out of His love for us, He's preparing a beautiful home for us where we'll dwell with Him forever, but even the plainest place would be paradise with Him.