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The temple and the tabernacle were both used by God as His dwelling place on earth. His dwelling place was first the tabernacle, which was movable and temporary, and then the temple, which was fixed and permanent.
The tabernacle was the predecessor of the temple as the dwelling place of God on earth, and the temple was the consummate building of the tabernacle. The tabernacle and the temple were the same in use, and they have the same significance in typology.
The movable and temporary tabernacle followed the children of Israel into the good land and was placed in Shiloh (Josh. 18:1). Later it was moved to Nob (1 Sam. 21:1; cf. Mark 2:26) and then to Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:39; 21:29). During David’s reign, he sensed God’s heart for His kingdom and His house. Hence, David established a kingdom on earth according to God’s desire. Moreover, when he realized that the Ark of God needed a fixed and permanent dwelling place, he desired to build a temple for God to replace the movable and temporary tabernacle.
The entire life of David was a suffering. He was born as the youngest among his brothers, and as a young boy he was assigned to tend the sheep (1 Sam. 16:11); thus, he was trained by God in humility. Although he was anointed by Samuel with oil and defeated Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, by trusting in God, he was envied and persecuted by King Saul, who was determined to kill him. He fled to different places to escape Saul’s pursuit. He suffered many afflictions and was nearly driven from the good land so that he would not have any share in Jehovah’s inheritance.
After David ascended to the throne to be the king of God’s kingdom on the earth, he continually fought for the kingdom of God to conquer the enemies in the surrounding regions and to capture the land usurped by them. In this, David typified the aspect of Christ’s suffering and fighting for God.
God’s intention was for the children of Israel to take the good land and build the temple in the place where He had chosen to set up His name. However, God had no way to build the temple because the enemies still occupied the land and were not yet completely subdued. Hence, God raised up David to defeat the enemies and take the land. Furthermore, David bought the threshing floor of Ornan, the threshing floor of Araunah, from Ornan the Jebusite as the site for the building of the temple (1 Chron. 21:22-25; 2 Sam. 24:20-24).
After he obtained the site for the building of the temple, David received from God the pattern needed for the building of the temple (1 Chron. 28:11-19), just as Moses received from God the revelation of the pattern on the mountain concerning the tabernacle. Before his death, David instructed Solomon, his son, concerning this pattern. Thus, according to the pattern shown to his father David, Solomon built the temple, which was according to God’s desire for His dwelling.
Throughout the days of his life, through all his difficulties and according to his power, David prepared the materials necessary for the building of the temple. Because he set his affection on the house of God, he gave his private treasure of gold and silver over and above all that he had prepared for the building of the holy house. Then David called the leaders of the fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and they all offered willingly and prepared all the materials needed for the building of the house (29:2-9).
Although David desired to build the holy temple for God and also prepared all the materials for the building, God did not want David to build the temple for Him directly because he was a man of war and had shed the blood of many. God wanted Solomon, David’s son, to build the house for Him to be His dwelling place on the earth (28:3-6), because the building of the holy temple of God should be carried out in peace through a person of peace, not in war through a person of bloodshed.
Solomon typifies the resurrected Christ, including Christ in His ascension and coming back. Just as Solomon completed the building, Christ is building His church in resurrection until His coming back.
The name Solomon means “peaceful.” As the king of peace who built the house of God in peace, Solomon typifies the resurrected Christ, who is building a dwelling place for God in the peace of His resurrection. On the cross Christ abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances and made peace, and now in the peace of His resurrection He is building the Body of Christ (cf. Eph. 2:15-22).
Solomon typifies Christ, and Solomon’s building of the temple typifies Christ’s building of the church. The building of the holy temple was for God to have a dwelling place on the earth; likewise, this is the purpose of the building of the church (vv. 21-22). Whereas Solomon and the temple he built played the strongest roles and occupied a wide span in the history of Israel, Christ and the church as the unique building of God in the universe are the centrality, universality, and goal of God’s eternal economy.
The holy temple typifies Christ and the church because the church and Christ are one—Christ is the Head and the church is the Body. The Body is the enlargement of the Head to be the dwelling place of God.
The temple replaced the tabernacle as the dwelling place of God on the earth. They both signify the incarnated Christ as God’s dwelling place on the earth and the church (John 2:19-21; 1:14; Matt. 12:6), including all the believers, the members of Christ, to be the enlargement of Christ as God’s dwelling place on the earth (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Eph. 2:21-22).
John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” This indicates that Christ became flesh not only to bring God into man but also to be the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place on the earth among men. In John 2:19 the Lord Jesus told the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Here Jesus spoke of the temple of His body (v. 21). These two verses clearly show that the incarnated Christ was both the tabernacle of God and the temple of God.
The Jews destroyed, that is, crucified on the cross, the body of Christ, which was the temple of God, but Christ raised it up in three days. Three days signifies resurrection, indicating that Christ builds up His body in resurrection to be God’s dwelling place for God to dwell in.
In His resurrection Christ, on the one hand, raised His individual body from the dead and, on the other hand, raised all His believers up together with Him (Eph. 2:6). Thus, He enlarged His individual body into His corporate Body, which is the church. Therefore, the temple typifies the corporate Christ—the church—as the dwelling place of God.
In His resurrection Christ regenerated the believers, who were raised up together with Him (1 Pet. 1:3), that they may have God’s life and nature and become God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), which comes out of the old creation by its passing through death and resurrection. The corporate Body built by Christ in resurrection is altogether a new creation, not according to the old nature of the flesh but according to the new nature of God’s life.
The corporate Body of Christ in resurrection is of His Spirit (Eph. 4:4a), it is formed by being baptized into His Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), and it is in our spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God (Eph. 2:22). God’s dwelling place is in our spirit. Therefore, the corporate Body of Christ is spiritual, and since it is spiritual, it is mystical.
Both the temple and the tabernacle served as God’s dwelling place on the earth. His dwelling place was first the tabernacle, which was movable and temporary, and then the temple, which was fixed and permanent. The tabernacle was the predecessor of the temple as the dwelling place of God on earth, and the temple was the consummate building of the tabernacle. The tabernacle and the temple were the same in use, and they have the same significance in typology.
The building of the temple was David’s desire. David typifies the suffering Christ, who fought for the kingdom of God. David defeated the enemies, gained the good land, and also bought the threshing floor of Ornan as the site for the building of the temple. Moreover, he received from God the pattern needed for building the temple. Throughout the days of his life, through all his difficulties and according to his power, David prepared the materials necessary for the building of the temple and gave his private treasure of gold and silver. Furthermore, he called the leaders of the fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and they all offered willingly and prepared all the materials needed for the building of the house. However, God did not want David to build the holy temple for Him directly because he was a man of war and had shed the blood of many; rather, God wanted Solomon as the king of peace to build the house of God in peace. Solomon typifies the resurrected Christ, who builds the dwelling place of God in the peace of His resurrection. Therefore, Solomon’s building of the temple typifies Christ’s building of the church. Whereas Solomon and the temple he built played the strongest roles and occupied a wide span in the history of Israel, Christ and the church as the unique building of God in the universe are the centrality, universality, and goal of God’s eternal economy.
The holy temple typifies the incarnated Christ as God’s dwelling place on the earth, and it also typifies the church, including all the believers, the members of Christ, to be the enlargement of Christ as God’s dwelling place on the earth. The body of Christ was destroyed on the cross, and in His resurrection Christ built up this body to be God’s dwelling place. In His resurrection Christ also raised up all His believers together with Him and enlarged His body into the corporate Body, which is the church, as the corporate dwelling place of God. This corporate Body is altogether a new creation in resurrection; it is spiritual and mystical.
