2 Chronicles 3 Study Notes: The Temple Built on Mount Moriah
Solomon begins building the temple on Mount Moriah, at Ornan’s threshing floor that David had made ready, the place of the LORD’s appearing to David. The house is covered with gold, and the innermost room holds two great cherubim behind a woven veil. Two named pillars stand at the entrance.
General
Inside the Most Holy Place Solomon placed two great gold-covered cherubim (3:10). What does Scripture elsewhere link with cherubim like these?
Answer: The LORD’s throne, as the One enthroned between them
Cherubim are heavenly beings that Scripture links with God’s throne and holiness. Inside the Most Holy Place, the innermost and most sacred room of the temple, Solomon set two large cherubim covered with gold (3:10), their outspread wings reaching from wall to wall (3:11-13). This room pictured the throne room of the holy King. God had promised to meet Moses above the cover of the ark, between the pair of cherubim (Exodus 25:22), and Scripture speaks of the LORD as seated on His throne between the cherubim (1 Chronicles 13:6; Psalm 80:1).
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 (BSB)“In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of sculptured work, and he overlaid them with gold.”In the innermost room Solomon makes two gold-covered cherubim.
- Exodus 25:22 (BSB)“And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.”God promised to meet Moses above the mercy seat between the two cherubim.
- 1 Chronicles 13:6 (BSB)“David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.”Chronicles speaks of the LORD as the One whose throne is between the cherubim.
- Psalm 80:1 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth”The psalmist addresses God as the One who sits enthroned between the cherubim.
Theological
What do the two cherubim Solomon placed in the inner sanctuary (3:10) signify, judging from Scripture’s wider use of cherubim?
Answer: The LORD’s throne, as the One enthroned between them
The two gold-covered cherubim within the inner sanctuary (3:10), whose wings reach from wall to wall (3:11-13), mark the inner sanctuary as the throne room of the LORD. At the tabernacle God promised to meet with Moses between the cherubim over the ark’s cover (Exodus 25:22), and Israel confessed Him as the One seated on His throne between the cherubim (1 Chronicles 13:6; Psalm 80:1). The architecture proclaims God’s holy kingship over His people.
- 2 Chronicles 3:10 (BSB)“In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim of sculptured work, and he overlaid them with gold.”In the innermost room Solomon makes two gold-covered cherubim.
- Exodus 25:22 (BSB)“And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.”God promised to meet Moses above the mercy seat between the two cherubim.
- 1 Chronicles 13:6 (BSB)“David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name.”Chronicles speaks of the LORD as the One whose throne is between the cherubim.
- Psalm 80:1 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth”The psalmist addresses God as the One who sits enthroned between the cherubim.
General
Where did Solomon begin building the temple, according to 2 Chronicles 3:1?
Answer: On Mount Moriah, the place God had appeared to David
The chapter names the site with care. Solomon built on Mount Moriah, the place the LORD had shown Himself to David, the very spot David had made ready at Ornan’s threshing floor; Ornan was a Jebusite, one of the city’s earlier inhabitants (3:1). A threshing floor was a flat, open area where grain was separated from its husks. The LORD, through His angel and the prophet Gad, had directed David to build an altar there (1 Chronicles 21:18); there the LORD had stopped the plague and answered David’s sacrifice with fire from heaven, and David then announced that the LORD’s house would stand on that spot (1 Chronicles 22:1). The temple’s location was chosen by God, not by Solomon’s taste. The name Moriah appears elsewhere in Scripture only in Genesis 22:2, where God sent Abraham to a land bearing that name to offer Isaac.
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 (BSB)“Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”Solomon begins building on Mount Moriah, at the site David had prepared on Ornan’s threshing floor.
- 1 Chronicles 21:18 (BSB)“Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”The angel of the LORD had Gad tell David to build an altar on Ornan’s threshing floor.
- 1 Chronicles 22:1 (BSB)“Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.””David declared that the LORD’s house and Israel’s altar of burnt offering would stand at that spot.
- Genesis 22:2 (BSB)““Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.””The only other use of the name Moriah is the land where God sent Abraham to offer Isaac.
Theological
How does 2 Chronicles 3:1 identify the site where Solomon built the temple?
Answer: On Mount Moriah, the place God had appeared to David
The site is identified both by name and by history: Mount Moriah, the site of the LORD’s appearing to David, on Ornan’s threshing floor that David had made ready (3:1). The location rests on divine direction, since the LORD, through His angel and the prophet Gad, commanded David to build an altar there (1 Chronicles 21:18), where the LORD halted the plague and answered with fire from heaven, and David designated it for the LORD’s house (1 Chronicles 22:1). The only other biblical use of the name Moriah is Genesis 22:2, the land where God sent Abraham to offer Isaac.
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 (BSB)“Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”Solomon begins building on Mount Moriah, at the site David had prepared on Ornan’s threshing floor.
- 1 Chronicles 21:18 (BSB)“Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”The angel of the LORD had Gad tell David to build an altar on Ornan’s threshing floor.
- 1 Chronicles 22:1 (BSB)“Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God, as well as the altar of burnt offering for Israel.””David declared that the LORD’s house and Israel’s altar of burnt offering would stand at that spot.
- Genesis 22:2 (BSB)““Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.””The only other use of the name Moriah is the land where God sent Abraham to offer Isaac.
General
Solomon made a veil decorated with woven cherubim (3:14). How does the New Testament use the picture of the temple veil (curtain)?
Answer: Jesus opened the way through it by His body and blood
The veil was a woven curtain, decorated with cherubim (3:14), that closed off the Most Holy Place. In the Law it divided the inner room where the ark was kept from the outer sacred room (Exodus 26:33). The high priest alone could go behind it, just one day each year and always bringing blood (Hebrews 9:7-8), a sign that the path into God’s presence was still closed. When Jesus died, the temple veil was split in two from the top down (Matthew 27:51), and Hebrews says believers can now come boldly into God’s presence because of Jesus’ blood, by a new, living way opened through the curtain, which Hebrews links with His own body (Hebrews 10:19-20).
- 2 Chronicles 3:14 (BSB)“He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim woven into it.”Solomon makes the veil of colored yarn and linen with cherubim woven into it.
- Exodus 26:33 (BSB)“And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.”The veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the ark was kept.
- Hebrews 9:7-8 (BSB)“But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.”Only the high priest entered the inner room, once a year with blood, showing the way was not yet open.
- Matthew 27:51 (BSB)“At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”At Jesus’ death the temple veil was split in two from the top down.
- Hebrews 10:19-20 (BSB)“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body,”Believers may now enter the Most Holy Place with confidence by Jesus’ blood, through the curtain of His body.
Theological
How does the New Testament take up the image of the veil Solomon made (3:14)?
Answer: Jesus opened the way through it by His body and blood
The cherub-woven veil (3:14) guarded the Most Holy Place, separating it from the Holy Place as at the tabernacle (Exodus 26:33). Access was restricted to the high priest once a year with blood, which Hebrews reads as a sign that access to the sanctuary was not yet revealed (Hebrews 9:7-8). At Christ’s death the temple veil was split in two from the top down (Matthew 27:51), and Hebrews declares that believers now enter with confidence by His blood, by a new, living way through the curtain, that is, His body (Hebrews 10:19-20). The veil was a type pointing to the access Christ’s sacrifice secures.
- 2 Chronicles 3:14 (BSB)“He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim woven into it.”Solomon makes the veil of colored yarn and linen with cherubim woven into it.
- Exodus 26:33 (BSB)“And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.”The veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where the ark was kept.
- Hebrews 9:7-8 (BSB)“But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By this arrangement the Holy Spirit was showing that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.”Only the high priest entered the inner room, once a year with blood, showing the way was not yet open.
- Matthew 27:51 (BSB)“At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”At Jesus’ death the temple veil was split in two from the top down.
- Hebrews 10:19-20 (BSB)“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body,”Believers may now enter the Most Holy Place with confidence by Jesus’ blood, through the curtain of His body.