Heaven's Embassy on Earth Text: 2 Chronicles 3:1-7
Introduction: More Than a Building Project
We live in a pragmatic and materialistic age. When we read a passage like this one, describing the construction of Solomon's Temple, our modern sensibilities are tempted to see it as little more than a historical account of an ancient building project. We see architectural specifications, lists of materials, and a timetable. But to see only that is to be spiritually tone-deaf. It is to read the libretto of an opera as though it were a grocery list. What is described here is not merely the erection of a building; it is the establishment of heaven's embassy on earth. This is a profound theological statement, a physical embodiment of God's covenant promises, and a glorious, albeit temporary, picture of the cosmos as it was meant to be.
The building of the Temple was a central event in the history of redemption. It was the culmination of the promises made to David and the consolidation of Israel's identity as the people of God. But more than that, it was a shadow, a type, a magnificent pointer to a greater reality. Every detail, from the location on which it was built to the gold that overlaid its walls, is saturated with meaning. It is a sermon in stone and timber. The modern church, often so concerned with being relevant and casual, has much to learn from the gravity, the beauty, and the sheer, glorious weight of this account. We have forgotten that God is not just our buddy; He is the transcendent King of the universe, and the way we approach Him matters.
The Chronicler is writing to the post-exilic community, a people who had seen this glorious temple reduced to rubble and who were now gathered around a far more modest replacement. He is reminding them of their heritage, of the grandeur of God's initial provision, in order to stir up their faith. He is showing them that the God who established this house is the same God who is with them now. And for us, who live on this side of the cross, the account serves an even greater purpose. It shows us the shadow so that we might better appreciate the substance, which is Christ. For if this house was glorious, how much more glorious is the true Temple, the Lord Jesus, and His body, the church?
The Text
Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Then he began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits. And the porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, 20 cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold. Now he overlaid the main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. Further, he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. He also covered the house with gold, the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
(2 Chronicles 3:1-7 LSB)
A Place Steeped in Redemptive History (v. 1)
We begin with the sacred geography of the Temple.
"Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite." (2 Chronicles 3:1)
The location is not incidental; it is foundational. God does not do things randomly. The site is specified with three layers of redemptive history. First, it is on Mount Moriah. This should immediately snap our attention back to Genesis 22. Moriah was the place where God tested Abraham, commanding him to offer his only son, Isaac, whom he loved. It was the place of ultimate sacrifice, where Abraham's hand was stayed and God Himself provided a substitute, a ram caught in the thicket. From the very beginning, this mountain is marked as the place of substitutionary atonement. The Temple is built on a foundation of grace, on the very spot that prefigured the sacrifice of God's only Son.
Second, it is the place where Yahweh had appeared to David. This refers to the events of 1 Chronicles 21. David, in his pride, numbered the people, and God sent a plague as judgment. The angel of the Lord stood with his sword drawn over Jerusalem, ready to destroy it, at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. A threshing floor is a place of separation, where wheat is separated from chaff, a picture of judgment. David repented, purchased the threshing floor, built an altar, and offered sacrifices. God answered with fire from heaven and the plague was stopped. So, the Temple is built not only on the ground of substitutionary atonement but also on the ground of judgment averted through sacrifice and repentance. It is a place where God's wrath was satisfied and mercy triumphed.
Third, it was the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. This is significant. It was not originally Israelite territory. David purchased it from a Gentile. This hints, from the very beginning, that the grace of God is not confined to the physical descendants of Abraham. The foundation of God's house rests on land redeemed from the Gentiles, a beautiful foreshadowing of the day when the nations would stream to this mountain to worship the God of Israel (Isaiah 2:2-3).
God's Appointed Time and Measure (v. 2-3)
The Chronicler then notes the precise timing and dimensions.
"Then he began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits." (2 Chronicles 3:2-3)
The specific date is not just for historical record-keeping. It demonstrates that this project is unfolding according to God's sovereign timetable. The God of creation, who ordered the cosmos in six days, is the same God who orders the work of redemption in human history. This is not a human initiative that God simply blesses; it is a divine appointment that Solomon faithfully keeps.
The dimensions are also divinely appointed. These are not arbitrary numbers cooked up by a committee. They are based on the pattern of the Tabernacle, which was itself based on the heavenly pattern shown to Moses on the mountain (Exodus 25:40). The Temple is a microcosm, a scale model of the cosmos, representing God's ordered and holy creation. The very proportions of the building are a declaration that this is God's space, built according to His specifications, a place where His heavenly order touches the earth. This is a rebuke to all forms of man-made, will-worship, where we decide for ourselves how God ought to be approached.
Overwhelming Glory (v. 4-7)
The description then moves to the materials, and one theme dominates: gold. Pure, shining, overwhelming gold.
"And the porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, 20 cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold... Now he overlaid the main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold... Further, he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. He also covered the house with gold, the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors..." (2 Chronicles 3:4-7)
The porch, or vestibule, was astonishingly high, perhaps a tower-like entrance, and it was covered inside with pure gold. This was the entrance to the house, the transition from the outer court to the holy place. To pass through it was to be enveloped in the radiant, dazzling glory of God. Gold in Scripture consistently symbolizes divinity, purity, and God's glory. This was not a subtle hint; it was a sledgehammer statement. You are now entering the presence of the Holy One. This is not common space. The sheer value of the materials was a declaration of the infinite worth of the God who would dwell there.
The main room is paneled with cypress wood, a durable and beautiful wood, representing the best of creation. But even this is not left as it is; it is overlaid with fine gold. This is a picture of glorified creation. The created thing (wood) is covered and permeated by the divine (gold). This points to the New Heavens and New Earth, where the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and share in the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:21).
The decorations are significant. Palm trees are symbols of victory, righteousness, and eternal life (Psalm 92:12, Revelation 7:9). Chains represent God's binding covenant promises. Precious stones speak of the beauty and excellency of God's handiwork, and they will later be used to describe the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19-20). Every decorative element is a theological statement.
Finally, we are told he "carved cherubim on the walls." Cherubim are the guardians of God's holy presence. They were stationed at the entrance to Eden to guard the way to the tree of life after the fall (Genesis 3:24). Their images were woven into the veil of the tabernacle and stood guard over the Ark of the Covenant. Carving them on the walls was a constant, visible reminder that access to God is not a light thing. He is a holy God, and He dwells in unapproachable light, guarded by fearsome angelic beings. You do not saunter into His presence; you come on His terms, by His grace, through His prescribed means of sacrifice.
The True Temple
As magnificent as this structure was, it was a pointer, a shadow. The Jews in Jesus' day had come to idolize the building itself, forgetting what it pointed to. And so Jesus stood in the temple courts and said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). He was speaking of the temple of His body. He is the true place where God dwells, the true meeting point of heaven and earth. The glory that was symbolized by all that gold dwells in Him bodily (Colossians 2:9).
The location on Moriah finds its fulfillment at Calvary, just outside the city walls, where God the Father offered His only Son as the true and final substitutionary sacrifice. The threshing floor finds its fulfillment in the cross, where the judgment of God against sin was fully poured out on Christ, and the plague of eternal death was stayed for all who believe.
The gold, the wood, the precious stones, all of it finds its ultimate meaning in Him. But it doesn't stop there. Through faith in Christ, we are united to Him. The Apostle Peter tells us that we, as believers, are "living stones... being built up as a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5). The church is now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). God is not building with cypress and gold any longer; He is building with redeemed sinners. He is overlaying our humanity with His divine grace. He is adorning His church with the precious stones of the fruit of the Spirit. And He is conforming us into a holy habitation, a place where His glory dwells, not in a building made with hands, but in the communion of the saints.
This passage, then, should fill us with awe, not just for the glory of Solomon's temple, but for the far greater glory of the church of Jesus Christ. We are the house He is building. And one day, that building will be complete, and we will dwell with Him in a city that has no need for a temple, "for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Revelation 21:22).