By Rev. J. L. HURLBUT, D.D., and R. S. HOLMES, A.M.
The Temple on Mount Moriah was the result of long growth. 1. It began with the Altar, erected of loose stones wherever the patriarchs journeyed, and bearing its bloody sacrifice as a prefiguration of Christ. 2. Next came the Tabernacle, a movable tent, designed for a nomadic people, and symbolizing God’s dwelling-place among his people. 3. When the Tabernacle was fixed at Shiloh, a more substantial structure, by degrees, took the place of the tent, surrounded by rooms in which the priests lived, and standing in an open court. 4. This, in the age of David and Solomon, furnished the ground plan for the Temple on Mount Moriah.
There were three temples. 1. Solomon’s Temple, dedicated 1000 B. C., and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, 587 B. C. 2. Zerubbabel’s Temple, begun by the Jews on the return from captivity, B. C. 536, and completed in 20 years. 3. Herod’s Temple, begun 30 B. C., as the second temple was in a ruinous condition, but not fully completed until 65 A. D., five years before its final destruction by Titus. The latter is the one to be briefly described in this lesson. It consisted of several courts and an interior building. The dimensions named below are not precise, as the length of the cubit and the thickness of the walls are uncertain.
I. The Court of the Gentiles was an open plaza, or quadrangle, not square, but of about 1000 feet on each side. It was surrounded by a high wall, and entered by six gates, of which three were on the west, toward the city, and one on each of the other sides. On the eastern side extended a double colonnade, Solomon’s Porch, and on the south another, Herod’s Porch. As this was not regarded a sacred place, it was considered no sacrilege to have a market upon its marble floor, especially for the sale of animals for sacrifice.
II. On the northwestern part of the Court was the chel, or sacred enclosure, a raised platform 8 feet high, surrounded by a fence, within which no Gentile could enter. Its outer dimensions were about 630 by 300 feet. It was entered by nine gates, four each on the north and south, and one on the east. Upon the platform of the chel rose an inner wall 40 feet high and 600 by 250 feet in dimensions.
III. The space enclosed by this lofty inner wall was divided into two sections, of which the eastern was a square of about 230 feet, called the Court of the Women, on account of a gallery for women around it. It had four gates, of which the one on the east was probably the Gate Beautiful. In its four corners were rooms, used for different purposes connected with the services; and upon its walls were boxes for the gifts of the worshipers, from which it was often called “the Treasury.”
IV. The Court of Israel occupied the western part of the enclosure, and was about 320 by 230 feet in size. Another court stood inside of it, so that it was simply a narrow platform 16 feet wide, from which male worshipers could view the sacrifices. In the southeastern corner was the hall in which the Sanhedrim met, and where Stephen stood on trial. In the wall around this court were rooms used for storage, for baking bread, for treasuries, etc. This court was entered by seven gates, on the north and south each three, and one on the east.
V. The Court of the Priests was a raised platform inside the Court of Israel, and separated from it by a low rail. It was 275 by 200 feet in size. Upon it stood the altar, the laver, and the Temple building.
VI. The Temple itself was the only covered building on the mountain. It consisted of a lofty vestibule, having a front 120 feet high; a series of rooms three stories high for the priests, and within these the house of God, divided into two rooms, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, separated by a veil. The outer room was 30 by 60 feet in size, the inner 30 feet square and of the same height. In the Holy Place stood the table for the show-bread, the golden candlestick (properly a lamp-stand), and the golden altar of incense. In the Holy of Holies there was no ark in the New Testament period, but only a stone upon which the high-priest laid the censer when he entered the room, on but one day in the year, the great Day of Atonement.