Temple Construction Begins

(1 Kings 6:1-4)

1Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

Dimensions and Materials

3Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was three score cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. 5And the greater house he paneled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains. 6And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubim on the walls.

8And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. 9And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

10And in the most holy house he made two cherubim of image work, and overlaid them with gold.

The Cherubim

(1 Kings 6:23-30)

11And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13The wings of these cherubim spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

The Veil and Pillars

14And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and worked cherubim thereon.

15Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.