The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern. James E. Talmage

repeated the Lord's promise of acceptance at the hand of Solomon. The scriptural record runs thus:

      "So David prepared abundantly before his death.

      "Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel.

      "And David said to Solomon. My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God:

      "But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

      "Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

      "He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father: and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

       "Now, my son, the Lord be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee.

      "Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God.

      "Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfill the statues and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

      "Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

      "Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

      "Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.

      "David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

      "Is not the Lord your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.

      "Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord."^[33]

      David gave Solomon detailed instructions as to the design and specifications of the house and its appurtenances, the plan of the porch and that of both the main structure and the accessory buildings, "and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit." Furthermore he gave directions as to the ministry of the various courses of Priests and Levites, "and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord."^[34]

      The actual work of construction was begun in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, and the Temple was ready for dedication in the twelfth, or about 1005 BC At the inception of the labor, Solomon entered into an agreement with Hiram, a neighboring king, whereby the resources of Tyre and Sidon were annexed in the great undertaking. Through this alliance the splendid forests of Lebanon were made accessible; cedar, and fir, and other trees were felled and floated by the thousand to the most convenient point for land transportation to Jerusalem. It had been previously explained to Hiram that the demand would be a heavy one, for, as Solomon had said: "The house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods."^[35] Sidonian hewers were put to work—the most skilful of all known woodmen; and the timbers of Lebanon were supplied in abundance. The extent of the demand may be judged from the enormous payment proffered and made by Solomon.^[36]

      Israelitish workmen were employed in great numbers, both in co-operation with the Sidonians and at home. Thus we read:

      "And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.

       "And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.

      "And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;

      "Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.

      "And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

      "And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house."^[37]

      For the successful employment of such great numbers of workmen an effective system of organization was necessary; we are not surprised, therefore, in reading that thirty-three hundred overseers were in service. The efficiency of the system is attested by the success attending the great undertaking. The Israelites and the men of Tyre and Sidon worked in harmony, and much of the building material was shaped by pattern and measurement in forest and quarry; therefore "the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building."^[38]

      Our primary source of information relating to the erection of the great Temple is the scriptural record contained in I Kings, chapters 6 and 7; a later account appears in II Chronicles, chapter 3 and 4, which account as well as the description given by Josephus^[39] appears to have been derived from the record first cited.

      In general, the design of Solomon's Temple was that of the specially constructed Tabernacle of the Congregation, though the dimensions of the Temple were double those of the Tabernacle. It will be remembered that the porch of the Tabernacle was five cubits deep; that of the Temple measured ten cubits in depth; in each case the porch extended across the full width of the house. The Holy Place, or first compartment within the walls, was twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten high in the Tabernacle; that of the Temple was forty by twenty cubits and twenty cubits high. The inner sanctuary, Oracle, or Holy of Holies, in the Tabernacle was cubical and measured ten cubits each way; in the Temple this sacred enclosure was a cube of twenty cubits. Thus the ground plan of the Tabernacle covered thirty-five by twenty cubits, and that of the Temple seventy cubits by forty. These measurements do not take into account the side chambers, which in the Tabernacle were five cubits wide; those connected with the Temple measured ten cubits in extreme width; with these included, the entire area of the Tabernacle was forty by twenty cubits, and that of the Temple eighty by forty cubits; or, at the usually accepted equivalent for the cubit, sixty by thirty feet for the Tabernacle, and one hundred and twenty feet by sixty feet for the Temple. In height the same relation was maintained; the Tabernacle rose fifteen cubits and the Temple thirty cubits. The Temple porch appears to have towered above the height of the main structure.^[40]

       In the porch, standing as a guard at the threshold of the Temple, were two brazen pillars, of elaborate design, and doubtless of emblematical significance. They were regarded as of such importance as to merit detailed description, and the name of their maker was inscribed in the Temple archives. They were wrought by Hiram of Tyre—not the king who bore the same name—but a master-artisan, skilled in the working of brass. Hiram fashioned the pillars, each twelve cubits in circumference and eighteen cubits high exclusive of the massive chapiters, which were ornamented with pomegranates and lily work. The pillar at the right of the entrance was named Jachin, meaning "He shall establish," and that at the left was called Boaz, signifying "In it is strength."^[41] Whatever deeper meaning may have been attached to these massive columns, their suggestive symbolism of strength and firmness is plainly apparent. As to whether they actually supported the roof of the porch, or were free, standing as embellishments and symbols alone, the scriptural text is not definite.

      The walls