The Building of the Temple

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:1). The text does not say how many total laborers were present at the site, but it specifies the house was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. The structure was built of stone finished at the quarry so that no hammer, axe, or iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built (1 Kings 6:7). The interior was lined with cedar boards, covering the stone from the floor to the ceiling, and the entire inside was overlaid with pure gold.

Solomon summoned a man named Hiram from Tyre, who was a craftsman in bronze, to perform the metalwork for the temple (1 Kings 7:13-14). Hiram cast two bronze pillars, named Jachin and Boaz, and constructed a large bronze sea supported by twelve oxen. He also fashioned ten bronze stands and ten bronze basins, along with the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls requested for the service of the house. The text does not say how Hiram felt about the commission, but it records that he finished all the work he performed for King Solomon (1 Kings 7:40).

When the construction was complete, Solomon assembled the elders of Israel to bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion to the new temple. As the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not perform their service (1 Kings 8:10-11). Solomon stood before the altar and spread his hands toward heaven, offering a prayer of dedication and asking that the Lord’s eyes be open toward the temple night and day. Following the prayer, the king and all Israel offered sacrifices of sheep and cattle to the Lord (1 Kings 8:62-63).