And for the entrance of the oracle he made doors of olive-wood the lintel [and] side posts were the fifth part [of the breadth of the house].
This verse describes the doorway into the innermost room of Solomon's temple. Why olive wood? And why doors at all, where the tabernacle — the tent Israel carried in the wilderness — had only a curtain?
Older translations call the inner room "the oracle."
An "oracle" is a speaking-place. Both Kings and Chronicles use the word for the innermost room of the temple. Because failure came so soon after the temple was built, God may have spoken from His holy oracle in Jerusalem rarely, if at all. Yet that was God's intention for it. It came true in full only when the Lord Jesus appeared. He could speak of the temple of His body, and in Him we find not only the speaking place but the Spokesman. All that God has to say to us is in and through Him.
Older translations read "a fifth part" where the ESV has "five-sided." One writer takes that as a measurement.
The lintel and side-posts "were a fifth part," that is, a fifth of the width of the house. The Most Holy Place was twenty cubits wide, so a fifth part is four cubits.
One writer ties the change to the difference between a tent and a settled house.
Doors of olive wood were made for the entrance to the inner sanctuary (v.31). There were two of them, and they also had carvings of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers (v.32). The tabernacle had no doors, only a veil. It was a temporary dwelling for God while Israel travelled through the wilderness. The temple clearly had doors as well as the veil.
Commentators differ here. Grant sees doors as well as a veil. Another writer points out that 1 Kings never mentions the veil in this room.
As noted before, the veil is not mentioned here. A double door of olive wood (v. 31) overlaid with gold takes its place. It is a free, wide access that lets the eye reach into the most holy place. Even so, golden chains hung across the front of the oracle (v. 21), which fits the order of things under the law.
The kind of wood carries meaning too.
In connection with the temple we find great stress laid upon the olive wood, the tree from which olive oil is obtained. Quotations from the New Testament will show us how the anointing oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. Peter, preaching in the house of Cornelius, said that Jesus had been anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. John, writing to believers in his letters, tells them they have an anointing. I believe those scriptures show us that anointing involves the Person and power of the Holy Spirit.
One writer compares this entrance with the outer one, and then comes to the doorframe.
The record seems to speak of two sets of doors: in verses 31-32 folding doors into the Oracle, which separated the holy place from the holiest of all, and in verses 32-35 folding doors into the Temple itself. The entrance into the Oracle was slightly the narrower of the two. The Oracle doors were made from the olive tree and the Temple doors from the fir tree. The lintel and side posts of both sets of doors were made of olive-wood. This points to the power of the Spirit. Only by His power can we make use of Christ to come into God's presence.
One writer reads the doors themselves as a picture of Christ.
Like the veil they replace, the doors represent Christ, who by giving Himself has opened up access for us to God. In the sanctuary we see the wisdom of God alone. Christ crucified is the wisdom of God. By His cross we enter the sanctuary in full peace and full joy, and there, with understanding, we can praise the Lamb who was slain.
- Speaking-place. The room behind these doors was the "oracle," God's speaking place. That purpose was reached in full only in Christ, who is both the place and the Spokesman.
- Doors, not only a curtain. The tent in the wilderness had a veil, because it was temporary. The settled house has doors of olive wood overlaid with gold: a free, wide access.
- Olive wood. The wood comes from the tree that gives the anointing oil. That oil speaks of the Person and power of the Holy Spirit.
- Frame and power. The lintel and doorposts of olive wood point to the Spirit's power. Without it no one makes use of Christ to enter God's presence.
- The door is a Person. The doors stand where the veil stood. They picture Christ, who by giving Himself opened the way in. We enter by His cross, and inside we praise the Lamb who was slain.
The two doors were of olive-wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees and half-open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm-trees.
Two olive-wood doors stood at the entrance to the inner room of Solomon's temple, carved and then covered in gold. Why doors here, when the tabernacle had only a curtain — and why these carvings?
The tabernacle was the portable tent Israel carried through the wilderness. The temple replaced it for good. One writer draws the contrast:
The tabernacle had no doors, only a veil. That is because the tabernacle was God's temporary dwelling while Israel travelled through the wilderness. But the temple clearly had doors as well as the veil.
Another writer notes that 1 Kings never mentions a curtain here. He sees the doors as a wide opening instead:
The veil is not mentioned here. A double door of olive wood overlaid with gold takes its place. This is a free, wide opening. It lets the eye look right into the most holy place. Even so, in keeping with the order of things under the law, golden chains hung across the front of the inner room.
A door is what you pass through. One writer reads these doors as the way in, and links that way to the cross:
The doors of the inner room had cherubim on them, with palm trees and flowers. This was the only spot within the holy place where the cherubim could be seen. Like the veil they replace, the doors stand for Christ. By giving Himself He has opened the way for us to God. Inside the sanctuary only the wisdom of God is in view, and Christ crucified is the wisdom of God. By His cross we enter the sanctuary in full peace and full joy, and there we can praise the Lamb who was slain with understanding.
The cherubim are the first figures carved on the doors. One writer explains what each of these figures means, and points out which one is missing here:
The cherubim are attributes of the righteous government of God. The living creatures of Revelation are cherubim. The lion stands for strength. The ox stands for firmness and patience. The man stands for intelligence. The eagle stands for the swiftness of God's judgments and government. The eagle is not named in the decoration of the temple, or of the vessels of the court. The eagle means swift judgment, and that does not fit a settled, peaceful government. So the cherubim here are the intelligent side of God's government. This intelligence decorates the house of God. Those who come near may see it in every detail of the divine building.
Commentators differ on the emphasis. Another writer reads the cherubim as rule and judgement, and gives each carving its own meaning:
The doors were carved with cherubim, because this blessed One will rule and carry out judgement for God. They were carved with palm trees, because victory is with Him. They were carved with "half-open flowers," which suggest that with Him there are always greater and more delightful things still to come.
The palm carries several meanings in Scripture. One writer links its wide use in this temple to the reign it pictures:
The palm is the symbol of beauty, of righteousness, prosperity and fruitfulness. It is the symbol of salvation and victory, and of royal glory. Its wide use in the first temple ties it to the kingdom and glory that Solomon's reign pictures. The palm tree grows steadily through every season, so it also stands for constancy and perseverance.
The ESV calls these "open flowers"; other translations read "half-open flowers", a bloom just starting to open. One writer applies that detail to the kingdom and to its people:
The half-open flowers are the emblem of a new season, of the beginning of spring. In Psalm 92 we see that "The righteous flourish like the palm tree… They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God." So these emblems picture not only the kingdom, but also those who belong there. There will be perfect harmony between the glories of the kingdom and those who will have part in it.
The verse mentions gold twice — laid over the doors, then spread over the figures themselves. One writer explains what a visitor saw, and why:
Those who entered the temple to dwell with God saw nothing around them but divine righteousness. Everything was covered, down to the floor under their feet. Man cannot dwell with God except according to divine righteousness.
- Doors, not curtain — the wilderness tent had only a veil. The permanent house had doors, and they opened wide enough to see in.
- Doors mean Christ — they stand where the veil stood, and the One who gave Himself is the way through them.
- Carved with government — the cherubim put God's wise, settled rule on the entrance itself. The carvings leave out the emblem of swift judgment.
- Carved with peace and spring — palm trees for victory and steady fruitfulness. Open flowers for a season just beginning, matching both the kingdom and its people.
- Covered in gold — every figure overlaid. No one dwells with God except on the ground of divine righteousness.
And he also made for the doorway of the temple posts of olive-wood, of the fourth part [of the breadth of the house].
One line of building detail: olive wood framed the entrance to the main hall of Solomon's temple. Commentators read it beside the inner doorway described just before, and ask two things — why olive wood, and why the house of God had doors at all.
One writer compares the two sets of doors: their wood, their width, and their carving. The Oracle he names is the inner room, the holiest of all.
The record seems to speak of two sets of doors. Verses 31-32 give folding doors into the Oracle, separating the holy place from the holiest of all. Verses 33-35 give folding doors into the Temple itself. The entrance into the Oracle is the slightly narrower of the two sets. The Oracle doors were made from the olive tree and the Temple doors from the fir tree. Some translators put cypress in the margin, and J. N. Darby has cypress in his text, rather than fir... He carved cherubim on the doors, for this blessed One will rule and carry out judgement for God. He carved palm-trees, for victory is with Him. He carved "half-open flowers" (J.N.D.), which suggests that greater and more delightful things are always still to come with Him. Gold covered all of this, and gold pictures the righteousness and glory of God.
Another writer separates the posts from the door leaves.
There were also doors by which to enter into the outer sanctuary. The posts for these were made of olive wood (v.33), but the doors themselves of cypress (v.34).
The ESV reads "in the form of a square." Older translations read "a fourth part." One study takes that as a share of the building's width and measures it against Ezekiel's temple.
The fourth part of the width of the house is five cubits. The posts of the door are of oil tree, two cubits, and the door six cubits (Ezek. 41:3).
One writer explains the choice of this wood from what the New Testament says about anointing.
In connection with the temple we find great emphasis on the olive wood, the tree that yields olive oil. Quotations from the New Testament will show us how the anointing oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. When Peter was preaching in Cornelius' house he said that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power. John, writing to the saints in his letters, says "you have an anointing." I believe those Scriptures show us that anointing involves the Person and power of the Holy Spirit.
Both doorways had the same wood in the frame, and one writer draws a conclusion for the worshipper.
Olive wood formed the lintel and side posts of both sets of doors. The power of the Spirit is in mind in this. Only by His power can we make use of Christ for access into God's presence.
The tabernacle was the tent Israel carried through the wilderness. It had no doors at all, and one writer ties that to how long each building was meant to stand.
In the tabernacle there were no doors, only a veil. The tabernacle was God's dwelling for a time only, while Israel were travelling through the wilderness. In the temple there were clearly doors as well as the veil.
One writer sees in the shape of these doors both the death of Christ and the believer's welcome into God's presence.
The doors were divided in the centre into two folding leaves, reminding us of the torn veil — Christ crucified. They appear to be typical of Christ Jesus, by whom we draw near to God; and through Him, by faith in Him, we have boldness of access, not only into the Holy Place, but also into the Holiest of all (Heb. 10:19-22). The olive-wood one is a type of Christ risen in His spiritual body; the other, of fir or cypress, pictures Him in His resurrection strength. The carvings and the gold set out His various perfections and divine glory.
Commentators differ here. Some read the olive wood as the Spirit's power; this writer reads it as the risen Christ.
- Doorway. Verse 33 gives the outer entrance, the way into the main hall. Olive-wood posts framed it, and cypress doors closed it.
- Permanence. The tabernacle had only a veil, because it was God's dwelling for the journey; the temple had doors as well.
- Oil. Olive is the oil-bearing tree, and oil in Scripture is tied to anointing — the Person and power of the Holy Spirit.
- Access. Only by the Spirit's power do we make use of Christ and come into God's presence.
- Opened. The doors split down the centre recall the torn veil. Through Christ we enter with boldness, right into the Holiest of all.