2 Chronicles 3:1-17

The temple was the dwelling place of God’s glory, the center of national worship, and the fulfillment of God’s promise to David.

The chapter begins by specifying the location of the Temple: on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Chronicles 3:1). Mount Moriah was the very place where Abraham was prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, only for God to provide a ram as a substitute (Genesis 22:1-14). Solomon’s Temple, built on this site of prophetic sacrifice, was a continual reminder of the substitutionary atonement and divine provision. Jesus Christ is the true Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the final and perfect substitute God provided. The Temple’s location points directly to Calvary, another hill outside Jerusalem, where God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (Romans 8:32a).

The Chronicler details the lavish use of gold, fine materials, and precious stones in the building of the temple. This splendor and value were meant to reflect the majesty, purity, and incomparable worth of the God who dwelt within. In Jesus, we see the embodiment of this divine glory. He is the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The Greek word for dwelt literally means TO PITCH A TENT or TO TABERNACLE. Jesus is the true Temple, the true dwelling place of God’s glory, not one overlaid with gold, but one whose very nature is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3).

The Temple was divided into two primary sections: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies), separated by a great veil. This veil was a barrier, signifying that because of sin, access to the direct presence of God was severely restricted. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and only once a year, with the blood of a sacrifice. At the moment of Jesus’s death on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This was not the work of human hands but a divine act. Jesus, our great High Priest (who) has passed through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14), did not enter with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). In Him, we can now come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

The artifacts within the Temple also find their fulfillment in Christ. Though described more fully in other passages, the presence of the altar, the bronze sea, and the cherubim in the Chronicler’s account all point to Him. The altar, the place of sacrifice, finds its end in the cross. The bronze sea, used for the priests to wash and purify themselves before service (2 Chronicles 4:6), points to Christ’s work of cleansing us from our sin. This is not through external washing but through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour (Titus 3:5-6). The cherubim in the Most Holy Place, whose wings covered the Ark of the Covenant, remind us of the cherubim who guarded the way to the Tree of Life after Adam’s sin (Genesis 3:24). They were symbols of God’s holy presence and judgment against sin. In Christ, the judgment is satisfied, and access to eternal life is restored. He is the way (John 14:6), and in Him, we are granted access to partake of the Tree of Life (Revelation 22:14).

We must also consider the ultimate purpose of the Temple: to be the unifying place where God meets with humanity and where people from all nations can come to worship. Solomon’s Temple was primarily for Israel, though with a vision for the nations (1 Kings 8:41-43). Jesus fulfills and radically expands this vision. Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:19-21). After His resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, His people themselves (Jew and Gentile together) are being built into a new, living temple. The Apostle Peter describes us as living stones being built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5), and Paul explicitly states that we are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in [us] (1 Corinthians 3:16). This finds its climax in the glorious vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation, where John saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple (Revelation 21:22). The dwelling of God is finally and eternally with humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the perfect, permanent, and eternal Temple. He is the ultimate sacrifice, the final priest, the presence of God, and the unifying center for a people from every tribe and nation. In Him, the symbols find their substance, the prophecies find their fulfillment, and the promise of God’s dwelling with His people becomes an everlasting reality.

Let’s pray:

• for transformation by the Holy Spirit, so that our lives, character, and actions would increasingly reflect the character of God.
• for boldness and confidence to come before God’s throne to find mercy and grace in times of need.
• that we may live in unity with siblings in Christ, actively building up the spiritual house, and faithfully displaying God’s presence to the world until the day we dwell in the New Jerusalem.

Soli Deo Gloria – to God alone be the glory! Rev. Luke Haisa