Bird's-eye view
This chapter marks the glorious pivot point in the construction of the temple. The building project is complete, and now the building must become a house, a home. This is accomplished by bringing the central piece of furniture, the very throne of God on earth, into its final resting place. The passage details the solemn, joyful, and magnificent procession of the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies. This is not merely a logistical move; it is a profound theological event. It is a national act of covenant renewal, a liturgical drama showing that God is taking up residence among His people in the place they have prepared for Him. The entire affair is conducted with meticulous care, extravagant sacrifice, and national participation, culminating in the placement of God's covenant law at the very heart of Israel's life and worship. This event is the crescendo of Solomon's work, fulfilling the desire of his father David and setting the stage for the descent of God's glory that immediately follows.
In short, the physical structure is finished, and now the spiritual reality it was designed for is about to be inaugurated. God is moving in. This entire chapter is a type and a shadow of a greater reality: God taking up residence with man, first in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who is the true Temple, and then by His Spirit in the Church, which is the household of God.
Outline
- 1. The Consecration of the Temple (2 Chron 5:1-10)
- a. The Completion and Furnishing (2 Chron 5:1)
- b. The National Assembly for the Ark (2 Chron 5:2-3)
- c. The Levitical Procession (2 Chron 5:4-5)
- d. The Extravagant Sacrifices (2 Chron 5:6)
- e. The Enthronement of the Ark (2 Chron 5:7-9)
- f. The Foundation of the Throne: The Covenant (2 Chron 5:10)
Context In 2 Chronicles
This chapter is the direct fulfillment of the preceding chapters. In chapters 2 through 4, the Chronicler has detailed the immense and glorious work of building the temple, from the gathering of materials to the crafting of the bronze and gold furnishings. The work is now done. Chapter 5 serves as the bridge between the construction of the house and the consecration of the house. It is the action that makes the building what it was intended to be: the dwelling place of Yahweh. This event, the bringing of the ark, is the necessary prelude to Solomon's great prayer of dedication in chapter 6 and God's fiery acceptance and the filling of the temple with His glory in chapter 7. Without the presence of God, symbolized by the ark, the temple is just an empty, albeit magnificent, building. This chapter puts the King on His throne within His palace.
Key Issues
- The Relationship Between the Temple and the Tabernacle
- The Nature of Liturgical Procession and Celebration
- The Meaning of Extravagant Sacrificial Worship
- The Centrality of the Ark of the Covenant
- The Significance of the Contents of the Ark
- Solomon as a Type of Christ
- The Temple as a Type of Christ and the Church
God Moves In
There is a profound difference between building a house and moving into it. The construction can be a marvel of engineering and artistry, but it remains a shell, a monument, until the family arrives with their possessions and makes it a home. This is what we are witnessing here. Solomon, the son of David, has completed the magnificent house his father dreamed of. Now, the time has come for the great King, Yahweh of Armies, to take up His royal residence. This is not a quiet affair. It is a national festival, a liturgical spectacle of the highest order. The whole nation, represented by its leaders, is gathered to witness and participate in this historic moment where God formally and visibly establishes His throne in the heart of their kingdom. This is the culmination of the Exodus. God led them out of Egypt to dwell among them, and now, the temporary tent of the wilderness journey is being replaced by a permanent, glorious palace on Mount Zion.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1 Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished. And Solomon brought in the things set apart as holy by his father David, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
The work is finished. This is a statement of completion, a declaration that the task assigned has been fulfilled. It echoes God's own completion of creation and anticipates Christ's final cry from the cross. But the first act after completion is not rest; it is consecration. Solomon brings in the treasures that David, the man of war, had set apart. David fought the battles and accumulated the wealth, and Solomon, the man of peace, builds the house and furnishes it. This is a beautiful picture of generational faithfulness. David's consecrated spoils of war now become the foundational treasury for God's house of peace. All wealth, whether won through conflict or crafted in peace, rightly belongs in the service of God's kingdom.
2-3 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month.
This is a formal, national summons. Solomon gathers the leadership, the representatives of all the people, because this is an act of the entire covenant community. The ark is not Solomon's private possession; it belongs to Yahweh, and the people are His subjects. The ark is to be brought up from the "city of David," a lower part of Jerusalem, to its new, higher, and more glorious home on the temple mount. The timing is significant. The feast of the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles, a festival of harvest and remembrance, celebrating God's provision and His dwelling with them in tents in the wilderness. What better time to move from the temporary tent to the permanent house than during the festival that commemorated the tent itself? This is a covenant renewal ceremony on a grand scale.
4-5 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites carried the ark. And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.
The procedure is orderly and obedient. The Levites carry the ark, as the law prescribed. God has specific instructions for how His holy things are to be handled, and Solomon is careful to follow them. This is not a spontaneous free-for-all; it is structured, reverent worship. Notice that they bring up not only the ark but also the old tent of meeting and its utensils. The old, mobile sanctuary is now being decommissioned. Its purpose is fulfilled and subsumed into the new, permanent temple. This is a transfer of authority. The holiness that resided in the tabernacle is now being formally relocated to the temple. The shadow is giving way to the substance, or rather, a clearer shadow is replacing a faded one.
6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who congregated with him before the ark, were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
The worship is extravagant. The sheer number of sacrifices is intentionally overwhelming. This is not about meeting a minimum requirement; it is about a lavish, open-hearted outpouring of gratitude and devotion. On one level, this immense shedding of blood acknowledges the immense weight of the nation's sin, which must be atoned for before God can dwell in their midst. On another level, it is an expression of boundless joy. Their response to God's covenant faithfulness is not stingy. This ocean of blood points forward to the one sacrifice of Christ, which is truly of infinite value, a sacrifice that cannot be numbered.
7-8 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the cherubim. And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above.
Here is the central moment. The ark comes to its final resting place. It is placed in the Holy of Holies, the throne room. The ark, with its mercy seat, was the earthly throne of the invisible God. And who guards the throne of God? The cherubim. The two massive, golden cherubim built by Solomon now spread their wings over the ark, forming a canopy, a protective and royal covering. The portable throne from the wilderness is now permanently installed within the palace, under the watchful gaze of the celestial bodyguards. God is enthroned in His house.
9 But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and they are there to this day.
This is a fascinating architectural and theological detail. The poles used to carry the ark were left in place, and they were long enough to be visible from the Holy Place, the chamber just outside the Holy of Holies. A priest performing his duties in the Holy Place could look toward the veil and see the ends of the poles pressing against it. He could not see the ark itself, but he could see the evidence that it was there. This is a beautiful picture of our relationship to God's presence. He is hidden, veiled, transcendent. Yet He is also near, present, and knowable through the means He has appointed. We cannot see Him directly, but we see the evidence of His rule. The phrase "to this day" simply anchors the account for the Chronicler's original audience, attesting to the historical reality of the event.
10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where Yahweh cut a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
The Chronicler makes a point of telling us what was inside the throne. At one time, it had also contained a pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded. But now, there was nothing in it but the Ten Commandments, the tablets of the covenant. This is the foundation of God's kingdom. His rule is not arbitrary; it is founded upon His revealed law, His covenant word. The throne of the King of the universe rests upon His testimony. He rules His people by His word. This is the constitution of the kingdom, placed in the most sacred spot on earth. It reminds the people that their relationship with God, their access to His presence, and their national existence are all based on His covenant promises and stipulations.
Application
The installation of the ark in the temple is a story that throbs with relevance for the Christian. First, we must see that Solomon, the son of David, the prince of peace who builds God's house, is a type of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the greater Solomon who has built a greater temple, not of stones, but of living stones, the Church. He has finished the work His Father gave Him to do.
Second, the ark itself points to Christ. It was the place of God's presence, and its lid was the mercy seat, the place of atonement. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. He is our mercy seat, where the blood was sprinkled once for all. The foundation of God's throne was the law, and Jesus is the one who perfectly fulfilled that law and bore its curse on our behalf.
Third, the worship of Israel should challenge our own. Theirs was orderly, reverent, joyful, and wildly extravagant. They brought their best, and they brought it in abundance. Does our worship reflect that same spirit of lavish gratitude? Or are we content to give God the leftovers of our time, energy, and wealth? The uncountable number of sacrifices reminds us that we have received a grace that is beyond all measure, and our response should be one of whole-hearted, uncalculating devotion.
Finally, just as God came to dwell in that temple, so He comes by His Spirit to dwell in us, both individually and corporately as the church. We are now the temple of the living God. The central reality of our faith is not a box in a building, but the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And the foundation of that temple, the constitution of our lives, must be the same as it was then: the unchanging Word of God, fulfilled and illuminated for us in the person of His Son.