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Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 6; 1 Kings 7
In chapters six through eight we have an account of Solomon's building the temple of God with his own palaces. The temple was a type of Christ and also of the Body of Christ.
The building of the temple, the house of Jehovah, began in the four hundred eightieth year after Israel came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, 1012 B.C. (6:1). How patient our God is! He brought a people out of Egypt with the intention to build up His kingdom and His home, the temple. But His elect did not cooperate with Him; therefore, He could not accomplish this until the time of David. This is why David was so pleasant to God; he was a man according to God's heart. God's heart was on His kingdom with His home. However, there was not a person who would take care of God's heart's desire until David. David was a man according to God's desire to build up a kingdom and to have a house built up for Himself on the earth. Although this building began in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, everything for the building up of the temple was prepared by David.
The temple was built on the ground of Mount Zion, which was called Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered Isaac (Gen. 22:2) and David offered his sacrifice to Jehovah (1 Chron. 21:18—22:1; 2 Chron. 3:1). By this we can see that the Bible is a record concerning God's economy. Isaac was a type of Christ, who was crucified on the same mount where Isaac was offered to God.
Solomon's building of the temple was according to the promise of Jehovah given to David (2 Sam. 7:12-13; 1 Kings 5:5).
Solomon built the temple according to his father King David's charge (1 Chron. 22:6-11). This indicates that Solomon did nothing in a light way but did everything according to his father's instructions.
Solomon built the temple with the materials prepared by his father David (1 Chron. 22:14-16).
Solomon did not build the temple according to his wise mind. Rather, he built it according to God's own design given to David (1 Chron. 28:11-19).
All the materials for the building of God's temple and all its furniture have their significance in typology.
Gold signifies God's divine nature, divinity (1 Kings 6:20-22).
The different kinds of wood signify different aspects of Christ's humanity.
Cedar signifies Christ's humanity in resurrection, the resurrected Christ (vv. 9, 10b, 15a, 16).
Cypress signifies Christ's humanity in His death, the crucified Jesus (vv. 15b, 34).
Olive wood signifies Christ's humanity in the Spirit of God, the anointed Christ (vv. 23, 31-33).
Costly stones signify Christ's humanity in transformation, the transformed Christ (vv. 7, 36; 5:17). Not only do we need transformation; Christ also needed transformation. As God, Christ in His incarnation put on man's flesh. The Word became flesh (John 1:14). Having become a man in the flesh, Christ was in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). He therefore needed transformation in His human part.
Bronze signifies Christ under God's judgment, the judged Christ (1 Kings 7:15-16, 27, 30).
The main items of the building also have their significances in typology.
The temple replaced the tabernacle as God's dwelling on earth (6:1-2).
The temple first signifies the incarnated Christ as God's dwelling on the earth (John 2:19-21; 1:14; Matt. 12:6).
The temple also signifies the church, including all the believers, the members of Christ, as the enlargement of Christ to be God's dwelling on the earth (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Eph. 2:21-22). The temple signifies both 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 for God's dwelling. Hence, for God to dwell in Christ is for God to dwell in the church.
The size of the temple was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high (1 Kings 6:2). We should compare this with the size of the tabernacle — thirty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high (Exo. 26:16-23).
The windows of the temple were for air and light, signifying the life-giving Spirit's fellowship bringing the spiritual air and the divine light (1 Kings 6:4a).
Its fixed lattices were for keeping the windows open and the negative things away (v. 4b). This signifies the fellowship of the life-giving Spirit keeping the opening for the divine communication and protecting the room from the invasion of all negative matters and things.
The front portico of the temple, a space to receive people (v. 3), signifies the opening, the accepting, and the receiving of the temple to the people (like the lobby of a magnificent building).
The outer temple, the Holy Place, signifies the soul of the believers as God's temple sanctified unto God (v. 5a).
The innermost sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, signifies the spirit of the believers as God's temple, the same in its three dimensions, as is the New Jerusalem, the largest form of the Holy of Holies (vv. 5b, 16, 20; Rev. 21:16).
The side chambers signify the unsearchable riches of Christ becoming His extension as His fullness (1 Kings 6:5c). As believers in Christ, we are the temple and we are also the side chambers, the extension of Christ as His fullness.
The side chambers were in three stories, signifying being in the Triune God and in Christ's resurrection (v. 6).
The width of the first story was five cubits; the second, six cubits; and the third, seven cubits (v. 6). This signifies that the higher the church as Christ's fullness goes, the wider it is.
The door of the side chambers signifies the communication, the fellowship, of the church as the fullness of Christ (v. 8a). The side chambers were separate, but there was a door for communication. If there had been no door, that would have indicated autonomy. Today, some local churches either have no doors or they close their doors. They cut off fellowship between the churches. The wider the door, the richer the fellowship. Hence, all the local churches as chambers of Christ should widen their doors.
The winding stairs signify that the way to get into the church as the fullness of Christ is spiral without corners (v. 8b). This indicates that the fellowship between the churches should not have corners. Rather, the fellowship should continue to go up and up by a spiral stairway, like the street in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1). In the New Jerusalem, from the mount where God's throne is, a river flows down the street in the form of a spiral to reach all the twelve gates.
The temple's two bronze pillars signify the Christ judged by God becoming the supporting strength of God's dwelling on the earth (1 Kings 7:15-22).
The inner court of the temple (6:36) signifies the separation through God's sanctification from the common world (in which were the bronze altar and the bronze sea).
The inner court was built with three courses of hewn stones, signifying the crucified Christ in His resurrection.
The inner court was built also with one course of cedar beams, signifying the resurrected Christ in His humanity.
The inner court built with hewn stones and cedar beams became the separating wall as a line separating the dwelling of God from the common world.
The bronze sea with ten bronze lavers signifies the convicting, judging, and renewing Spirit of God washing away, based on the death of Christ, all the negative things from those participating in the dwelling of God on earth (7:23-40; John 16:8; Titus 3:5). Solomon also built an altar of bronze (1 Kings 9:25), but it is not listed here.
The golden table for the bread of the presence signifies the Christ who has gone through the processes of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and has become the life-giving Spirit to be the spiritual food of God's elect (7:48b; John 6:32-63).
The golden lampstands signify the Christ who has become the life-giving Spirit through His resurrection to be the divine light to His people (1 Kings 7:49; John 8:12).
The golden altar with its incense signifies the resurrected and ascended Christ to be the sweet savor for God's acceptance of His redeemed (1 Kings 7:48a; Rev. 8:3).
There is no mentioning in the list in 1 Kings 6 and 7 of the building of the ark of the covenant because Solomon still kept the ark of the covenant made by Moses (6:19; 8:3-9).
