This is a stunning reconstruction of Solomon’s temple. Not the empty architectural folly Herod built, but the gold-plated cedar house that stood in Jerusalem for over 300 years before its destruction.
In this video we walk into the Holy Place…
In 1883, biblical scholar Thomas Newberry designed this model of the temple described in 1 Kings ch 6–8 and 2 Chronicles ch 3–6.
Though King David first planned to build a house for the Lord, it was his son Solomon who oversaw the construction of the temple, beginning about 959BC and continuing for seven years. The temple stood for over 300 years before its destruction by the Babylonians.
The first thing the Israelites saw as they entered the temple court was the altar of burnt offering. Here the priests offered the people’s sacrifices morning and evening.
In the corner of the temple courtyard stood a massive brass basin known as the Molten Sea. Measuring some 18 feet in diameter with an elaborately decorated rim, the vessel stood on a base bade of twelve oxen. It was filled with water with which the priests washed.
The Holy Place was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high, while its front porch was overlaid with pure gold. The walls and floors were lined with gold sheets ornamented with palm trees and cherubim. Inside were ten golden lampstands, which lit the Holy Place and burned continuously day and the night.
Beside each lampstand stood a golden table to display the showbread, which represented God’s provision for his people.
At the end of the Holy Place was the altar of incense, made of cedar wood covered in gold. Offering incense every evening was one of the duties of the priests, the only people permitted to enter the Holy Place.
One notable issue in this model is the open gate to the Holy of Holies, which was always separated from the Holy Place by a veil or curtain, concealing the Ark. The Holy of Holies was entered only once a year, by the High Priest, bearing blood of purification.
The domes on this model, are admittedly fanciful as well, not being described in scripture – though domes were not altogether unknown in the near east in the first millennium BC.
While fine details are certainly choices of the Victorian artist, this model with its interior details gives an idea of the rich, extravagant golden splendor and imagery described in scripture.
One can imagine standing here daily, wearing priestly vestments, seeing icons of angels, hearing chanted praises, offering intercession and incense to the Lord.
