Behind | Experiencing the Temple

Let’s revisit the temple—the place that receives so much attention in Chronicles. This time, focus on the sensory impact that it would have made on visitors and priests who served there: sights, sounds, smells.

As you approach the temple, you hear animals bleating. You smell the stench of burning carcasses.

You enter the temple precinct. Your eyes immediately gravitate to a few objects. Following your nose, you see a massive altar in the temple courtyard being used for sacrifices. There’s also a huge washbasin to wash and prepare sacrifices.

There’s bronze everywhere—from the sea, to the altar, to the carts used for transporting the sacrifices. The bright sun of the Middle East reflects off the precious metal.

Turning to the temple itself, you notice two enormous bronze pillars, intricately decorated from top to bottom. These pillars accent the temple’s entrance, featuring two solid wood doors engraved with flora and cherubim.

If you are among the few permitted to enter the temple, a different but equally awe-inspiring experience awaits them. The interior hall, with its high ceiling, is divided into two distinct sacred spaces. In the main sanctuary, great golden lampstands light the room. Gold is everywhere. Walls and tables overlaid with gold. Utensils made of pure gold. 

The fragrance of incense fills this place too.

The temple bombards the senses. Every worshiper is transported into another realm that gives just a glimpse of the heavenly throne and what creation was intended to be. 

The temple was a place that made an impression upon worshipers in a wide variety of ways. As the center of the worship of YHWH, the temple was a focal point of the book of Chronicles and for the exiles who would return to rebuild it.