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2 Chronicles 3

Chapter Text

Solomon Builds the Temple

Summary

Construction of the temple begins on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The dimensions are given: sixty cubits long, twenty wide, and the porch one hundred twenty cubits high. Solomon overlays the interior with pure gold, decorates it with carved cherubim, palm trees, and precious stones. The two great pillars, Jachin and Boaz, are erected at the entrance.

Meaning

The lavish use of gold throughout the temple symbolized the surpassing glory of God's presence. Every surface reflected divine radiance, creating a space that overwhelmed the senses with beauty and holiness.

The two pillars Jachin ("He establishes") and Boaz ("In Him is strength") proclaimed to all who entered that God alone is the source of stability and power for His people.

Background

Mount Moriah is identified as the place where Abraham offered Isaac and where David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan. This layering of sacred history made the site uniquely significant.

The temple's dimensions followed the proportions of the tabernacle but doubled the size, reflecting the permanence and grandeur of the new structure.

Chapter Outline

  1. vv. 1-2The Site and Timing of the Temple
  2. vv. 3-7Dimensions and Golden Adornment of the House
  3. vv. 8-9The Most Holy Place Overlaid in Gold
  4. vv. 10-13The Two Cherubim of the Holy of Holies
  5. vv. 14The Veil of Separation
  6. vv. 15-17The Pillars Jachin and Boaz

Key Verses

“Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”— 3:1

Mount Moriah links the temple site to Abraham's offering of Isaac (Genesis 22) and David's atoning sacrifice after the census (1 Chronicles 21), binding the temple to centuries of redemptive history.

“And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.”— 3:14

The veil separating the holy place from the most holy place foreshadows the barrier between God and humanity that would be torn at Christ's crucifixion (Matthew 27:51).

“And 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.”— 3:17

The named pillars—'He shall establish' and 'In it is strength'—stand as a perpetual confession that the house and the covenant rest entirely upon the LORD's power.

People & Places

People

  • Solomon — King of Israel and son of David, who begins constructing the temple in the fourth year of his reign.
  • David — Solomon's father, to whom the LORD appeared on Moriah and who prepared the temple site.
  • Ornan the Jebusite — The owner of the threshingfloor on Mount Moriah that David purchased as the site of the future temple.

Places

  • Jerusalem — The capital of Israel and chosen city where the LORD's house is built.
  • Mount Moriah — The hill in Jerusalem where God appeared to David and traditionally identified with Abraham's offering of Isaac.
  • Threshingfloor of Ornan — The specific plot on Moriah, purchased by David, that becomes the temple's foundation.
  • Parvaim — A distant region (possibly in Arabia) renowned for its especially fine gold used to adorn the temple.

Prophecy & Fulfillment

The veil 'of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen' with woven cherubim (v.14) typifies the separation between sinful humanity and a holy God—a barrier dramatically rent at Christ's death (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19-20). The pillars Jachin and Boaz (v.17) confess that God alone establishes and strengthens His house, anticipating Christ as the true foundation upon whom the church is built (1 Peter 2:4-7). Even the choice of Moriah (v.1) ties the temple to Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, prefiguring the Father's offering of His Son on the same range of hills.

Devotional

The temple was built on a place already marked by mercy—Moriah, where God provided a substitute for Isaac and stayed His hand against David. Our worship, too, always rises from ground God has already touched with grace.

Notice the lavish care: gold on every beam, stones chosen for beauty, pillars named for promise. Solomon refused to give God leftovers. What in your life is shaped by that same instinct—the desire to offer your best, not your spare?

And remember the pillars' names. Whatever you are building today, He establishes it; in Him is your strength.

Literary Style

Historical narrative in the Chronicler's characteristic temple-focused register, dense with architectural description, precise measurements, and material catalogues. The prose moves systematically from site to structure to sacred furnishings, culminating in the symbolic naming of the pillars.