Now that the temple has been built and all its furnishings fashioned and put into place, it's time to bring in the most important object of all: the ark of the covenant.
"Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord's covenant from Zion, the City of David. All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month." (1 Kings 8:1-2) We were previously told that Solomon finished building the temple in the eighth month on the Jewish calendar during his eleventh year as king of Israel. Here in 1 Kings 8 we find the ark being brought to the temple in the seventh month, after which a dedication ceremony will be held later in our chapter. From my background study it looks like the majority of scholars believe the dedication of the temple was performed the year after the temple was completed (which would be during Solomon's twelfth year as king) so the celebration would coincide with the Feast of Tabernacles. This is likely the case since I wouldn't expect Solomon to conduct the dedication ceremony a month before everything was completed.
It seemed clear in yesterday's text that Solomon made sure nothing was left undone with the temple or its furnishings before he retrieved the ark from the tent where it had been housed ever since David brought it to Jerusalem. It makes sense to perform the dedication at a time like the Feast of Tabernacles when so many people would be traveling to Jerusalem anyway. This was one of the three feasts each year at which every male of Israel was required to appear. It was considerate of Solomon to combine the dedication with the feast so the men throughout the nation of Israel (and the family members who came with them) would not have to make an extra journey to Jerusalem.
"When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted." (1 Kings 8:3-5) The original tabernacle had been at Gibeon for quite some time and it is not certain which tent of meeting (the one at Gibeon or the one at Jerusalem) the author is referring to when he says it was brought up to the temple location. Some Bible scholars think both were brought; others think the tabernacle at Gibeon was brought and that the temporary tent erected by David was disposed of.
"The priests then brought the ark of the Lord's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles." (1 Kings 8:6-7) The ark itself had two cherubim atop it but the cherubim referenced here are the two that Solomon had constructed for the temple. These two were to stand in the Most Holy Place, one on each side of the ark, facing toward the outer sanctuary, with two of their wings touching each other above the ark.
"These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt." (1 Kings 8:8-9) It's difficult to picture what the author means when he says he poles on the ark within the inner sanctuary could be seen from the outer sanctuary. I can't imagine how or why the space for the ark of the covenant would have been designed too small to accommodate everything that was intended to be placed inside the space. There must have been some sort of purpose for the ends of the poles being visible from the outer sanctuary.
Any theory I might be able to come up with is nothing but speculation but I'll share with you the only thing that comes to mind; I could be way off base with this though. Earlier in the Bible the Lord specifically stated that the poles were to remain at all times within the rings along the sides of the ark. The ark, since it represented the Lord's holy presence and since it was a visible symbol of the precious covenant He made with the people, was to be considered too holy for handling. It had to be carried by its poles, not by grabbing the sides of the ark itself and lifting it up. Perhaps the ends of the poles protruded from the opening to the Most Holy Place in case any need ever arose to remove it from its space. Some Bible commentators have speculated that the poles fit very tightly within the rings along the sides and it may be that, should the ark have to be moved, it would have been possible for men to stand outside the Most Holy place, take hold of the protruding ends of the poles, and pull it out of the room (if the rings fit so tightly that the poles couldn't slide out). This would prevent anyone from having to actually step inside the Most Holy Place. Once the ark was in the Most Holy Place, no one but the high priest was to enter its presence and that was only once a year on the Day of Atonement.
On the other hand, I am not sure anyone ever anticipated a need to remove the ark from its space, so we cannot be sure the poles protruded for this purpose. I believe there was a reason and I believe the author included this information because it was significant to him. He did not explain the reason and that may be because he expected his fellow citizens to already be aware of the reason. But too many centuries have passed and the temple has been gone too long for us to do anything but make guesses.
The author lets us know that some of the items which were formerly contained in the ark are now missing. He says only the stone tablets were still in it when it was put in the Most Holy Place. At one time it also contained Aaron's rod that budded and a pot of manna from the wilderness. We do not know when or how these items disappeared. That doesn't mean the author of 1 Kings doesn't know what happened to the rod and the manna; he just doesn't supply the information to us and again I think this may be a situation where his fellow citizens knew when and where the items disappeared so he didn't feel it necessary to provide an explanation. We don't know in our day what happened to the items but the prevailing theory is that the Philistines removed them while the ark was in their possession after they captured it in battle in 1 Samuel 4.
This seems like a reasonable theory to me because I think there can be no doubt that the Philistines looked inside it. Who would capture a chest covered in gold and not be curious about what it contains? They must have reasoned that an object of such beauty and value contained something even more beautiful and valuable inside. I imagine they were puzzled by the rod and the pot of manna and, unable to see any value in these objects, they discarded them. Perhaps they didn't discard the tablets of stone because they were aware that it was said that the finger of God wrote the words on the stones. This would explain why they placed the ark, with the tablets inside it, as an offering to their god Dagon in his temple. It would have been a way of saying that Dagon was more powerful than the God the ark represented and that Dagon's words and laws were superior to God's words and laws. (The Lord, of course, showed them who is the powerful, supreme, and only God!) It was common in ancient times to place in a temple the most valuable items taken in battle. You may recall that the sword David took from Goliath was at one time kept in the tabernacle when it was located at Nob. (1 Samuel 21:9)
Everything is finished now that the ark is in place. To signify that He considers the work completed and acceptable to Him, the Lord fills the temple with His glory. "When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled His temple." (1 Kings 8:10-11) The Lord does His work of sanctifying the temple before the priests do their work. The Lord's work is always superior to man's work! His work is perfect in every way and what a blessing it must have been to Solomon, the priests, and all the citizens to have the Lord put His stamp of approval on their work in this way.
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