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Verse:And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. —1 Kings 6:1
A full account of the building of the temple is recorded in 2 Chronicles 3 and 4.
A more detailed description is found in 1 Kings 6.
The temple was exactly twice the size of the wilderness tabernacle.
The pattern shown to Moses on the mount was followed precisely.
Solomon also had detailed instructions given to him by David.
A front porch stretched the width of the building.
High in the walls were placed slit windows that were wider on the interior than the exterior. Surrounding the temple on three sides were chambers that did not contact the main building. Massive stones were shaped at the quarry, so noise was kept at a minimum at the temple site. This required more skill and quite a bit more labor but was done to preserve reverence. Cedarwood covered both the roof and interior stone walls.
The interior was divided into the Holy Place, being forty cubits long, and the Most Holy Place, being twenty cubits square (1 Kings 6:16, 17).
A cedar partition, reaching floor to ceiling, separated the rooms.
The most significant object in the temple was the ark containing the tables of the law of the covenant (Exodus 34:1, 4, 10, 27, 28).
Two cherubim with outstretched wings reached across the Most Holy Place (1 Kings 6:23–28; Exodus 37:6–9). An altar of incense was constructed in front of the opening to the Most Holy Place (Exodus 30:1–6; 40:26). Two carved olive wood doors separated the rooms. The cedar walls were intricately carved with cherubims, palm trees, and open flowers (1 Kings 6:29). Gold covered the walls and floor as well as the interior portion of the front porch (2 Chronicles 3:4). “Of surpassing beauty and unrivaled splendor was the palatial building which Solomon and his associates erected for God and His worship. Garnished with precious stones, surrounded by spacious courts with magnificent approaches, and lined with carved cedar and burnished gold, the temple structure, with its broidered hangings and rich furnishings, was a fit emblem of the living church of God on earth.” “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8).