A Walk Through King Solomon's Temple

thank you [Music] Temple is intimately bound up with the ritual and traditions of craft and Royal Arch Masonry it is described in the volume of the Sacred law in the talmud and by historians such as Josephus but in no case is the description sufficiently complete to enable one to make even a mental reconstruction so many important details are wanting that no two authors who have written on the subject seem to be able to agree upon all points much however is known so tonight we'll take a virtual tour through this Mighty edifice good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from the quarries an archive of masonic law foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] was built on the model of the Tabernacle I shall first refer to that structure the Tabernacle or tent of meeting was the place where the Holy One met the congregation of Israel and it was the center and seat of the Hebrew theocracy there the people had audience of the most high and thence he issued his commands in a manner cognizable by the senses for their guidance the Tabernacle was erected in the wilderness by Moses a holy ebb and bezalil by the special command of the great architect of the universe according to instructions given by himself to Moses on Mount Sinai the term Tabernacle was applied to the whole structure set apart for the worship of the most high and consisted of two parts the Tabernacle proper which included the shrine of Jehovah and the surrounding Court where religious Services were held entering the court by the only gate which was in the East and proceeding Westward one came first upon the altar of burnt offering passing this one next came to the Laver where the priests performed their ablutions before entering the Tabernacle itself having passed the Laver the entrance to the Tabernacle proper was reached this erection which also had its own the entrance in the East was constructed of an acacia wood framework covered on the roof and Walls by various colored textile materials and ramskins dyed red the roof over the structure was a pitched one of 90 degrees the covering is descending from a horizontal Ridge Pole the tent was divided into two unequal Parts separated from each other by a hanging wall the larger Eastern portion was called The Holy place 20 cubits long 10 high and 10 wide into which the priests alone were permitted to enter and a smaller Western portion a cube of 10 cubits this latter portion was the shrine itself called the holy of holies which none might enter accepting the high priest alone and then only once a year and under certain conditions the holy Place contained the altar of incense a table of shoe bread and a golden candlestick the holy of holies contained only one object the Ark of the Covenant which contained the two Stone tables of the law a golden pot of manna and Aaron's Rod that buttered the top of the Ark was called The Mercy Seat on which were two figures called cherubim and from between these the great architect of the universe spoke to the high priest over the holy of holies in the open air hovered the pillar of cloud the visible indication of The Presence of Jehovah dark as Smoke by day and luminous as flame at night the congregation assembled for worship in the open air in the court around the altar of burnt offering for no Layman might set foot within the Tabernacle tent the Tabernacle was in existence for nearly 500 years as the center of religious life and worship having accompanied the Israelites in all their wanderings and it did not cease to be such until King Solomon brought the ark and the holy vessels from it and deposited them in the temple which he erected on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem the Tabernacle itself was also brought to Jerusalem and probably preserved as a sacred Relic in one of the chambers of the temple but its later history is unknown [Music] while a movable tent was necessary for a nomadic Nation the incongruity of a settled people having only a tent for the dwelling of God first occurred to the mind of King David it appeared unseemly to him that the Ark of God should still dwell between curtains where he himself Abode in a house of cedar he therefore proposed to build a temple of stone as a more becoming dwelling place for the most high on account however of his having shed so much human blood in his many wars he was not permitted to carry his project into execution and it was reserved for the peaceful reign of his son and successor King Solomon [Music] in preparation for the great undertaking King David appropriated much of the immense treasure he had collected he provided all or nearly all the materials before his death secured the services of skillful mechanics and artifices for every branch of the work and finish the design plans and sight of the proposed building so that more of the credit for this part of the work seems due to King David and to King Solomon has the term Tabernacle included both the Tabernacle tent and the surrounding Court so that general term Temple includes the temple proper and the surrounding courts and other buildings interesting though it would be to refer to these courts and the numerous objects they contained time would utterly fail me I therefore propose to confine my thesis to that sacred edifice erected by King Solomon which stood by itself apart from all other building and known as the temple which is so intimately bound up with our traditions and ritual the temple which took seven years to complete was built on the model of the Tabernacle being a veritable Tabernacle in wood and Stone the appearance of a tent was to be preserved to this master idea all others were subordinated and made to conform it governed both the Inception of the new building and all its accessories down to the last particular in Solomon's Temple there were as in the Tabernacle a holy of holies and a holy Place separated by a partition and in addition a lofty porch Tower in the temple however the proportions were double those of the Tabernacle except as regards the depth of the porch which was the same in each case built around the Western and north and south sides were three stories of small Chambers the lower or nethermost the middle and the third as described in First Kings chapter 6 verse 8 the entrance to the middle story was on the right side of the house by winding stairs the uppermost Chambers were entered from the middle and the lowest from the ground presumably by the doorway which gave access to the Winding Stair leading to the middle story all the chambers communicated with each other before proceeding further it will be well to indicate how the temple stood with regards to the points of the compass there was only one entrance and that was through the porch which faced the east or the Rising Sun as all Eastern temples did and do the Oracle or Shrine or sanctum sanctorum was at the Western end as regards the North and South and right and left the volume of the Sacred law tells us in First Kings 7 39 and he set the Sea on the right side of the house Eastward against the South and again in second chronicles 4 verse 10. and he set the Sea on the right side of the East End over against the South Joseph Josephus says and he set five of the lavers on the left side of the temple which was on that side towards the north wind and as many on the right side towards the South he then adds the following explanation by the right hand is meant what is against our left when we suppose ourselves going up from the East Gates of the courts towards the temple once it follows that the pillar jharkhen on the right hand of the temple was on the south against the left hand and Boaz on the North against our right hand the temple was built of dressed Stones already prepared and fitted in the quarries and all the beams and other woodwork were also prepared away from the site of the permanent Direction so that there was neither Hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building the walls inside were lined with cedar as well as the ceiling and floor but the last was covered with planks of fur in addition thus no stonework was Apparent from the inside the form of the roof of the temple is uncertain as is well known all Eastern houses and buildings have flat roofs but the temple was probably an exception it is stated in First Kings chapter 6 verse 9 so Solomon built the house and finished it and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar here it is affirmed that the roof was composed wholly of Cedarwood which is in itself presumptive evidence of a pitched roof since flat roofs required the use of stone or cement to form their floor the temple is thus to be conceived of as having a gable roof this being the only way in which the analogy of the Tabernacle tent could be followed this form of roof necessarily involved the existence of a loft or attic below it the floor of this Loft became the roof of the Holy place and the holy of holies the pillars consisted of a circular shaft 18 cubits in length and 4 cubits in diameter cast Hollow the cast being four inches thick each shaft was submitted by a square capital or chapter 5 cubits high on the summit of which was placed a supracapital four cubits in height the pillars were set on bases or plinths three cubits High which rested upon the tenth of the steps leading up to the forge and thus stood 35 cubits or about 42 feet high above the surface of the Court these pillars which were formed entirely of brass were the chief external artistic Glory of King Solomon's Temple the artist who designed them was the eminent artificer Hiram Abiff Hiram having been by training a Phoenician determined to make the most of his opportunity for elaboration and followed the custom of his country as before every Phoenician Temple stood two columns generally monoliths as before mentioned the shafts of the pillars were surmounted by square capitals of brass five cubits or about six feet high Jeremiah saw them at the burning of the temple and was present present when they were pulled down with ropes and broken up by the soldiers of nebazaridan it is from the description which he gives that we know that the capitals were Square adorned with 24 pomegranates on each of the four sides and that the number of 96 was made up to a hundred for the addition of four blooms placed presumably at the Four Corners of each Capital the groundwork pattern upon the casting of the capitals was a basket or Network it was probably at the intersection of the diagonal lines of the pattern that the pomegranate blossoms were placed besides this network adorned by pomegranate flowers they were cast with them wreaths of chain work or festoons of flowers above these square and heavy capitals was a singular creation which is peculiarly Hebrew in its applied conception this was a super capital of four cubits in height separately cast in the form of a Lotus Flower or tulip this is the lilywork described in First Kings chapter 7 verse 19. these are called bowls in first king 7 41 and pommels in second chronicles 4 verse 12. there can be little doubt that this form of decoration was derived from the sacred flower of Egypt it is certain that the casting was Hollow open at the top passing between the two famous pillars the porch of the temple was entered although there was no description given in the volume of sacred law of a porch in front of the Tabernacle there is more than a strong probability that there was such a portico and this formed the precursor of the porch of King Solomon's Temple no Layman even the king might enter the holy place but King David as the anointed of Jehovah had the right of passing beyond the fence which kept back the laity and to take his place in the intermediate space that stood between the altar of burnt sacrifice and the holy Chambers this space was the porch of the Tabernacle it would appear that this porch covered by its tent curtains was the ordinary place of worship for the judges and early Kings of Israel the area of the porch of the temple was fixed to allow a floor of 12 feet deep and 24 feet wide from side to side twice the area of the Portico of the Tabernacle the porch of the temple was 40 cubits or 48 feet high this Splendid entrance hall had no outer doors on the floor which was continuous with the tenth step stood the two imposing pillars flanking the entrance the walls ceiling and floor were overlaid with gold the two former ornamented in bass relief and the latter smooth it is difficult to realize the effect of the Rays of the Rising Sun as they Shone full upon those surfaces of polished gold the eyes of the beholder must have been dazzled as they gazed upon the wonderful structure by the scintillating Reflection from every square inch of the glittering surface one can readily understand the impression which must have been made upon the Queen of Sheba and her retinue as they gazed upon it on each side of the porch and opening from it was a small chamber continuous with the lowest of the three stories of Chambers built around the temple walls these two Chambers were the treasuries of the porch the plans of which were handed to Solomon by King David along with the other patterns of the Temple here restored the sacred utensils of the temple many of gold and others of silver in the right or South side of the porch in the corner and not visible to one standing outside in front of the entrance was the spiral stairway described as a Winding Stair leading to the floor above the porch in order to avoid subjecting the king to the inconveniences of his worship as hitherto in the Tabernacle it was planned to give him in the temple a similar space but on the first floor which should be reached by the spiral stairway the plan was supplied by David to Solomon as stated in first Chronicles 27 11. the pattern of the porch and the houses thereof which included such a provision these houses or rooms were the Royal oratory over the porch with a room above it for storing wine Etc these rooms were reached by the Winding Stair whose commencement was in the right hand of the South corner of the porch it must have been a work of extreme difficulty in the infancy of architecture to build a perpendicular flight of stone stairs up to a height of over 100 feet it this is what was done it was this final Marvel of the ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord that left no more spirit in the Queen of Sheba this Triumph of architectural skill surpassed all that she had seen of King Solomon's magnificence and to a dweller intense from the land of Arabia a perpendicular Ascent would doubtless seem to have savored of the miraculous above the Royal oratory arose the third chamber or chamber of the sons of Hanan low but overlaid with gold throughout standing upon the golden floor of the porch surrounded on all sides by shining gold a visitor facing Westwoods would see a folding door the leaves of this door were kept constantly closed and were of elegant workmanship the opening they closed was six feet wide they were made of olive wood beautifully carved in low relief the design being cherubim palm trees and open flowers and overlaid with gold the door was in the partition between the porch and the holy place and was 24 feet high these folding doors being opened outwards into the fortune hinges of gold a second pair of folding doors came into view on the inner side of the partition which was one cubit in thickness second set of doors was carved and decorated the same way as the first but the wood of which they were made was Cyprus I opened inwards into the holy place and were also overlaid with gold [Music] when both these doors were opened the visitor to the temple and Priests only were permitted to enter found himself gazing into the holy place ascending the two steps by which the floor of the house was raised one cubit above the floor of the porch the visitor's feet stood upon the golden floor of the Holy place all the objects which met the eye were either of pure gold or cased in gold there were no windows properly so called in the Holy place but high up in the walls on each side they were what were called Windows of narrow lights stated in the margins of the volume of the Sacred law to have been brought within and narrow without letting in air and a little light but not capable of being opened and closed they were in fact what are known as clarestry lights serving more as ventilators than anything else it is evident that the chief illumination came from the 10 seven branched golden candelabra which replaced five on each side of the chamber and these required the constant attention of the priests on the North or left side of the Interior stood the golden table of shoe bread at the Western end stood a small golden altar the altar of incense which was the most holy of all the furniture around it it stood before the partition separating the holy place from the holy of holies and upon it would burn sweet spices every morning and evening from which arose the incense that found its way into the oracle the center space contained the entrance into the Oracle which was guarded by a single set of folding doors opening outward into the holy place and made of olive wood also similarly decorated to the others and overlaid with gold these folding doors were 10 cubits High the height of the wooden screen and their breadth was four cubits there was thus an open space above the wooden partition of 10 cubits across which were stretched the golden chains that hung before the oracle these chains were decorated with 100 pomegranate flowers of gold and garnish with precious stones and festooned from pillar to pillar this open construction of the upper part of the partition permitted the smoke arising from the golden altar of incense to find its way into the holy of holies or Oracle the olive wood doors of in the partition being opened outwards into the holy Place displayed part of the veil of the Temple this veil was woven in one piece and made of textile material colored blue purple crimson and bisos a fine-twined linen yellowish in color with figures of cherubim wrought thereon the veil being woven in a single piece had to be lifted not parted by the high priest before he could enter to make atonement for his own and the people's sins it hung from the ceiling to the floor and covered the whole Eastern side of the cubicle chamber the holy of holies the holy of holies having no windows was shrouded in darkness no Ray of sun or out of shall light penetrated its sacred seclusion its walls ceiling and floor were overlaid with pure gold the walls and ceiling being covered with beautiful carvings and the floor smooth on the floor opposite the center of the Western Wall stood the Ark of the Covenant small chest of acacia wood 27 inches long 16.2 inches in height and the same in width made by Moses for the Tabernacle nearly 500 years before it is probable that the ark rested upon a stone as stated by maimonides or some other similar support it was lined within and without with plates of gold around its upper edges was a molding or cornice projecting above the level of its edges within this molding a lid of the same size as the chest lay having neither hinges nor fastening this lid or cover was named The Mercy Seat upon The Mercy Seat stood two figures of cherubim of hammered gold made in one piece with the movable cover one at each end the faces of the cherubim look towards each other and their wings were outstretched the ark contained only the two tables of the stone of the law which Moses had placed there the golden pot of manna and Aaron's Rod that budded having disappeared probably at the time the ark was captured by the Philistines at Each corner of the Ark there was a golden ring and through these were placed the golden staves for carrying it when the Tabernacle was moved from place to place in the wilderness on each side of the Ark stood a colossal cherub made of olive wood and overlaid with gold nine feet high without stretched Wings the outer Wings touching the chamber walls on each side the inner Wings each touching the other beyond the Gilded staves which lay at the feet of the larger cherubim the holy of holies was unoccupied by any created thing this cubic chamber was that towards which the heart of every faithful Hebrew turned in every distress and from every quarter of the globe his feelings of reverence gratitude hope and adoration based upon the belief that he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty from the foregoing narrative we learn definitely many points of interest which have reference to our traditions and rituals thus we are able to determine the exact situation of the famous pillars jargon and Boaz with regard to right and left we now know that these terms had relation to the right and left of the temple itself and not to the right and left of one standing facing the building that is to say jharkhand was placed on the south or right of the entrance and Boaz on the North or left exactly the reverse of one facing the porch we have discovered that these pillars were not surmounted by spherical balls representing the terrestrial and Celestial Globes but by Bowls in the form of lotus blooms indeed such testimony was hardly necessary since we know that the first terrestrial globe on record was made by animaxander of mellitus about four centuries after the completion of the Temple and that the first Celestial Globe was probably of even later date [Music] although these pillars as well as many other objects are described as having been made of brass this term is an improper translation of the word Neha sheth since the Hebrews were not acquainted with metal zinc with which with copper forms the compound known as brass in most places in the Old Testament copper would be the proper translation although when a hard material is obviously intended it must mean bronze a compound of copper and Tin both of which metals were well known around the Eastern Mediterranean long before The Exodus we must therefore infer that the pillars were really made of bronze and not of brass these pillars also were not pillars in the ordinary sense since they supported nothing they were really ornamental columns there really is no analogy between King Solomon's Temple and a modern Christian church or Masonic temple the temple proper was not a place of public worship at all as we understand it as such it was the Shrine of the most high and amazing condescension The Dwelling Place of the great architect of the Universe on earth and the only one it is from the failure to realize this fact that surprise has often been expressed at the diminutive size of the temple when compared with the huge dimensions of many Cathedrals and temples of other religions all Hebrew public worship took place outside the temple proper in the courts surrounding it in the vicinity of the great altar of burnt offering The Shrine of the most high was at the Western end of the structure and was entered from the holy place by the high priest alone and only once a year thus the sacred end of the temple was in the west whereas in Christian churches the chancel in the East is the holy place the floor of both the holy place and the sanctum sanctorum was overlaid with pure gold smooth and Polished therefore there was no Mosaic work of black and white anywhere there was no Dormer window over the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum for the admission of light or any other purpose the veil of the temple filled the entire Eastern end of the oracle its interior was shrouded in impenetrable Gloom unless the Shekinah the glory of the Lord hovering over The Mercy Seat lighted up the holy chamber when the high priest once a year ventured to enter but we are not informed of this the Middle Chamber of King Solomon's Temple is of great interest the reference in the volume of sacred law to the door of the Middle Chamber which was in the right side of the house and they went up the winding stairs into the Middle Chamber is clearly to the middle story of priests apartments or Chambers which were built against the temple walls on the west north and south and with us really outside the structure proper the winding stairs leading to the middle story was in the space between the walls enclosing these Chambers and as probably as not had no connection with the porch the entrance to the staircase was most probably in the middle of the right or the Southern Wall in all probability there was also a corresponding staircase on the North giving access to the middle story on that side of the Temple Chambers themselves were very small being only six feet high by seven wide and proportionally long accommodating as has been suggested two priests in each chamber on the other hand the Royal oratory situated over the porch was a lofty apartment 48 feet high 24 feet long and 12 feet wide and it is also known as a Middle Chamber the entrance to the winding stairs are leading to this Noble chamber was undoubtedly in the right or South side of the house in the porch itself and was thus within the actual building in full view of anyone standing within the Portico this Royal oratory then must have been the Middle Chamber of King Solomon's Temple to which illusion is so often made in our ritual

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Length: 33min 10sec (1990 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 09 2023