And all the work was finished that Solomon made for the house of Jehovah. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among the treasures of the house of God.
Solomon's building work is finished. Before the ark comes in, he brings his father's dedicated treasure into the temple and stores it. The verse ties two reigns together: David gathered, Solomon finished. Why keep the memory of David inside a house he never saw?
Solomon did not raise this wealth. David gathered it under a very different reign, and it finds its resting place only now.
Everything prepared during the reign of grace is brought in to adorn the house of the Lord under the reign of glory. The whole plan came from David, not from Solomon. The first reign prepared the glory of the second. A suffering, rejected Christ comes before a glorious Christ. What David did looked smaller than Solomon's work. The materials looked less than the splendid craftsmanship. But in reality David's work was the necessary foundation of everything that pictures the full blessing of Christ's coming reign.
The silver and gold came out of David's wars. He kept none of it back for himself.
David consecrates all the spoil from the victory over the enemy, along with Toi's freewill offerings, to the Lord. He claims none of it for himself. What will these riches be used for? 1 Chronicles 18:7-8 shows us they were brought to Jerusalem. Out of this great quantity of bronze Solomon made "the bronze sea, the pillars, and the vessels" for the temple of the Lord. From now on his only thought is that the fruit of all his victories should adorn the final, unchangeable dwelling place of his God among Israel.
The treasure came in two ways: war, and the free gifts of neighbouring kings like Toi.
One infinitely greater than David is pictured here, whose glory will fill the whole earth… The Lord is bringing costly things for His temple. Once before He prepared gold and silver for His tabernacle in the wilderness. Israel came out of Egypt loaded with jewels of gold and silver, and "they plundered the Egyptians." Now the Lord is plundering the nearby Gentile nations. All of this is for the temple. Some are compelled by war, others give freely. All contribute.
Solomon did not melt these gifts down into the new furnishings. He stored them as they were, in rooms of their own.
The building work was complete. Solomon also brought into the temple the things David had collected and dedicated to the Lord — silver and gold and other furnishings. These were put in the treasuries of the house of the Lord, apparently in a different room from either sanctuary. But the reminder of David's part was not to be lost, for he had put down the enemies of the Lord.
Grant ties David's own history to the memory we will keep in the Father's house:
David had been a sufferer, reminding us of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus before the day of His reigning in glory. Even in the glorious surroundings of the Father's house, we will never forget those days of His suffering. We will always fondly remember the whole path of the Lord Jesus on earth and His wonderful sacrifice at Calvary.
David's treasure lies under Solomon's splendour. The greater name here is not the more visible one.
He was not to build the house. But above all others, he had the preparing of the material and the ordering of it, even once it was built — not Solomon, but David. Solomon carried out David's arrangements. So whatever the future glory of the kingdom may be, we must remember that the sufferings of Christ morally take an incomparably higher place. David was more important than Solomon. Solomon was only the fruit, so to speak, of David.
David gave a fortune to a building he was told he would never build. He named his reason.
He says, "Because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given my own gold and silver to it, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house."… Out of his own private purse he gave a princely sum as a free gift toward the house another man's hand would raise… So we see that it is the true worshipper who makes the effective servant. It is when we have sat and gazed on what Christ has done for us that we are able, in some small measure, to act for Him. And then we too will be able to say with David, as he surveyed the untold wealth prepared for the house of God, "It is all Yours, and of Your own we have given You."
- Won. The silver and gold came from David's battles and from gifts sent by other kings. He kept none of the spoil for himself.
- Dedicated. He set it apart for a house he was not allowed to build. He even gave from his own property, because his affection was set on it.
- Finished. Solomon completed the work to his father's plan. The reign of grace prepared what the reign of glory displays.
- Treasured. Solomon stored the gifts instead of melting them down, so David's part would not be lost. We remember the days of suffering in the house of glory.
- Given back. Worship comes first and service follows. The giver's confession stands: it is all His already.
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion.
The temple stood finished on Mount Moriah. But the ark — the sign of God's presence — still sat in a tent on Zion, where David had left it. So the king calls the whole nation together for one last journey of the ark. The real question is not where to keep a box, but where God will rest.
Everything was ready except the One who was to live there:
Now that the temple was built and all its vessels were in place, He for whom Solomon had set all this up must come Himself to live in His house; and His throne must be put there. The temple stood on Mount Moriah, where David had set up his altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Until now the ark had stayed under tents in Zion, the city of David… This time it is not "the chosen men of Israel" (2 Sam. 6:1) as in David's day; all the people take part in this complete and final celebration.
The chapter sets this at a feast in the seventh month. Commentators differ on which feast it was. One reads it as the feast that closed Israel's year:
Final indeed, for the dedication of the temple takes place during the great days of the Feast of Tabernacles. That feast closes the series of Jewish feasts (Lev. 23)… It was the symbol pointing to the wonderful reign of Christ, when the people will live in joy and safety in their tents.
Another names it as the earlier feast of that month:
"All the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast in the seventh month" (that is, the feast of the blowing of trumpets, a figure of the restoration of Israel in the last days — Num. 29:1).
The verse ends by naming Zion. That name entered Israel's story only after everything else had failed:
God took them up from the depth of ruin, and Zion was won only after that condition. So it is the kingdom set up in power after the people lay in complete ruin. They had gone through every kind of change meant to help them, yet every experiment only sank them deeper into the dust. Only after all this was Zion won, and not till then. Nothing shows grace so beautifully. It is not only great activity of goodness, but also perfect goodness shown after all had been lost.
So the ark's route out of Zion carries a lesson for us too:
What Mount Zion stands for and expresses is grace — royal grace — in contrast to law as a principle, which Mount Sinai represents. Under law Israel lost everything, and they are still under its condemnation. In this light the journey we have taken with the ark is a picture of the move from the bondage of law to the liberty of grace.
One writer asks what the day really meant:
Now what was it all about? A change of residence for the ark? That was certainly true, yet not all the truth. It was a great day, and what was happening concerned the whole earth. It was God, the God of Israel — the one living and true God — entering His resting place on earth. That foreshadows what will take place when the Lord reigns in power and in peace. Until Solomon the Prince of Peace was on the throne, the ark did not enter its final resting place. God will not rest until the true Prince of Peace is made King over all the earth.
The older tent did not stay behind on Zion:
The Levites took up the ark, in the order laid down, and also brought the tabernacle and its furnishings up to the temple. Does this not tell us that, though the temple adds to the truth that is illustrated in the tabernacle, yet nothing of the truth connected with the tabernacle was to be lost, but rather absorbed into the teaching of the temple?
What mattered was not the crowd but its centre:
How good it was to see this great congregation united in their worship of their God, with His ark as the centre of their thoughts and movements. Our worship can only be acceptable to Him when Christ is the object before the heart, directing all our movements for His pleasure.
- Rest sought. The house was finished, but God had no throne in it while the ark stayed under curtains on Zion.
- Rest gathered. The king called the whole nation, not a select group. Commentators link the feast of the seventh month either to Israel's final joy or to Israel's regathering.
- Rest grounded. Zion, the city of David, was won only after every other resource had failed. That is why it stands for royal grace, not law.
- Rest carried. The tabernacle and its vessels moved up with the ark. The greater house took in the older truth instead of discarding it.
- Rest foreshadowed. The ark reaching its place under Solomon pictures the day God rests on earth, when the true Prince of Peace reigns. Until then, our worship is acceptable only when Christ is its centre.
And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that of the seventh month.
Solomon's temple stood finished. Before anyone prayed inside it, the whole nation came together. The verse notes two things: the people gathered before the king, and they gathered at a feast in the seventh month. Both details shape what the day pictures.
Solomon called the leaders, and the whole body of men came. One writer notes what stood at the centre of that day.
After Solomon had built the house of God, he assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes. They were to bring up "the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion" (1 Kings 8:1). It was a great occasion, with all the men of Israel assembled, "and all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark." How good it was to see this great congregation united in their homage to their God, with His ark as the centre of their thoughts and movements. Our homage to God is acceptable to Him only as Christ is the object before the heart, directing all our movements for His pleasure.
One writer explains why they came, and how this gathering differed from David's:
The temple had been built and all its vessels put in place. Now He for whom Solomon had set all this up must come Himself to dwell in His house, and His throne must be placed there. … It is no longer "the chosen men of Israel" (2 Sam. 6:1), as in the time of David. All the people take part in this complete and final celebration.
The text names the month but not the feast, and commentators differ over which one is meant. Some tie it to the feast that began on the fifteenth day:
This was at the time of the feast of the seventh month, very likely the Feast of Tabernacles, which began on the 15th day of this month, for it pictures the blessing of Israel's millennial glory.
Others read it as the feast that opened the month with the blowing of trumpets:
We read that "all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month" — that is, the feast of the blowing of trumpets, a figure of the restoration of Israel in the last days (Num. 29:1).
The trumpet feast on the first day of that month is read elsewhere in the same direction — as a picture of a scattered nation called home:
It foreshadows a time when the people of Israel, now dispersed all over the globe, will be gathered together again.
Whichever feast is in view, it came at the close of Israel's round of feasts. The note is joy, not struggle.
Final indeed, for the dedication of the temple takes place during the great days of the Feast of Tabernacles. That feast closes the series of Jewish feasts (Lev. 23). It is truly "the feast" above all feasts, "the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month." It properly ran seven days, followed by an eighth, which was "the great day of the feast" (John 7:37). It was held after the grain harvest and the grape harvest, both figures of judgment. It was the symbol pointing forward to the wonderful reign of Christ. Then the people will live in joy and safety in their tents, remembering the testings in the wilderness, which are past forever.
Until this day Israel's worship had two centres. That ended here.
For years there had been two centres of interest: the tabernacle with the altar at Gibeon, and the ark in the city of David. From now on there was to be only one. Gibeon did not hand the prize to Zion; both, so to speak, stepped aside in favour of Mount Moriah.
One thing came into the new house unchanged.
And then comes the assembling of the elders of Israel and the bringing up of the ark, for that remains unchanged. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." The ark is the grand central witness of the Lord Jesus. The ark of the tabernacle is the ark of the temple. The cherubs may differ, but not the ark itself.
There was a reason the ark held that place.
It was the ark that gave the house its character, for it was God's throne among Israel, from which He governed His people on the basis of His holy law.
- All gathered. The whole nation came, not a picked few. David's earlier day had drawn only the chosen men of Israel.
- One king. They gathered before Solomon, yet the ark was the centre of their thoughts and movements. Our homage is acceptable as Christ is the object before the heart.
- One feast. Commentators differ on which feast of the seventh month this was, Tabernacles or the trumpet feast. Both are read as pictures of Israel restored in a coming day.
- One place. Gibeon and Zion both gave way to Mount Moriah. Two centres of interest became one.
- One ark. Cherubim and buildings changed; the ark did not. It stays the central witness to Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
The temple is finished. The one thing still missing is the ark, which sits in a tent on Mount Zion. Solomon calls the nation's leaders together, and the Levites lift the ark for its last journey — a short walk that the writers say meant far more than a change of address.
The verse opens with an arrival: the elders come. One writer names who called them, why, and where every eye turned.
The King invited all the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the chiefs (or princes) of the families of the children of Israel. They gathered together at Jerusalem to keep the feast of the Dedication before the feast of Tabernacles. Gathered to keep the first of those feasts, every heart and eye turned to the Ark in its tent on Mount Zion.
The Levites do not improvise. And they carry more than the ark up the hill.
When the people had gathered, the Levites took up the ark, according to the prescribed order. They also brought the tabernacle and its furnishings up to the temple (vv. 4-5). Does this not tell us something? The temple adds to the truth pictured in the tabernacle. Yet nothing of the truth connected with the tabernacle was to be lost. It was taken up into the teaching of the temple.
The move settles a long-standing division in Israel's worship.
The priests came up from Gibeon, which lay in Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. With them came most of the Levites, carrying the Tabernacle that was tied so closely to Israel's wilderness wanderings. For years there had been two centres of interest: the Tabernacle with the Altar at Gibeon, and the Ark in the City of David. From now on there was to be only one — not by Gibeon giving way to Zion, but by both stepping aside in favour of Mount Moriah.
The Levites take the ark up here. Verse 7 says the priests brought it into the most holy place. One writer traces that priestly carrying back through Israel's story.
This scene is the fourth and last change in the order of carrying the Ark. When the people went through Jordan, the priests bore the Ark on their shoulders. That river pictures death, and it meant so much to Israel in fact and so much to us as a picture. At Jericho, when the Lord was pulling down the stronghold of the enemy, the priests, the sons of Aaron, again carried the Ark on their shoulders. When God took possession of the land through His people, the priests again carried the Ark. And now, as it was about to enter His resting-place on the earth, the priests bore it into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. (2 Chron. 5:7.)
A new address for the ark does not explain a day like this. One writer looks for what was really happening.
It may well be asked, why was all this great ceremony and rejoicing? Was it only that the Ark had reached a resting-place at last? That is certainly true, but not all the truth. It was that God — the God of Israel, the one living and true God — was entering into His resting-place on earth. This foreshadows what will take place when the Lord Jesus reigns in power and peace over the earth. Until Solomon the Prince of Peace came to the throne, the Ark had never entered its final resting-place. In the same way, God will not rest for good until the true Prince of Peace, whom Solomon pictured, is made King over all the earth.
Another writer turns this united crowd into a test for our own worship.
How good it was to see this great congregation united in honouring their God. His ark was the centre of their thoughts and their movements. Our honour to God is acceptable to Him only when Christ is the object before the heart, directing all our movements for His pleasure.
- Summoned — The elders and tribal heads come at the king's call during a feast. The ark in its tent becomes the one focus of every heart and eye.
- Shouldered — The Levites lift it in the set order. They bring the tabernacle and its vessels too, so the new house keeps every truth the old one taught.
- United — Gibeon and Zion both step aside for Moriah; two rival centres of worship end here as one.
- Handed over — Levites take it up, but priests carry it in, as at the Jordan, at Jericho, and at the taking of the land.
- Foreshadowed — God enters His rest on earth only under a king named Peace. That pictures the day the true Prince of Peace reigns over all the earth.
And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent the priests, the Levites, brought them up.
Solomon has finished the temple. Now everything that carried Israel's worship through the wilderness moves into it. This verse is a hinge: one sanctuary ends and another begins. What did Israel keep? What did it leave behind? And what did the move point toward?
For a long stretch of Israel's history, worship had two homes, miles apart. This verse ends that split:
The priests came up from Gibeon, north of Jerusalem. With them came the great body of the Levites, carrying the tabernacle that was tied so closely to Israel's wilderness wanderings. For years there had been two centres of interest. One was the tabernacle with the altar at Gibeon. The other was the ark in the city of David. From now on there was to be only one. Gibeon did not surrender to Zion; both stepped aside in favour of Mount Moriah.
After this verse, the tent Moses built is never heard of again. One writer reads its disappearance as a finished job, not a loss. Aholiab and Bezaleel were the craftsmen who made the tent and its furniture:
It came up from Gibeon, and was presumably carried into the temple with all its sacred vessels. It had done its work. The kingdom was established in the hands of the Prince of Peace. A settled state had been reached, and the temple was built to match it. So Aholiab's work was no longer needed. And all of Bezaleel's, except the ark, must have been regarded as obsolete. So, like a scene fading out, the tabernacle disappears, and in its place stands that temple.
Commentators differ on what happened to the tabernacle's furniture once it arrived. One reading is that the old vessels never served in the new house:
The temple was above all the resting-place of the ark. This is the last historical mention of the spiritually rich sanctuary which Moses built in the wilderness. None of its sacred vessels entered Solomon's temple. With the ark it was different.
Another writer asks what the move was for:
The temple adds to the truth illustrated in the tabernacle. But does this not tell us that nothing of the truth connected with the tabernacle was to be lost? It was taken up instead into the teaching of the temple.
The verse puts the ark on the shoulders of priests. One writer ties that detail to what the day was really about:
What was taking place concerned all the earth. It was God, the God of Israel — the one living and true God — entering into His resting place on earth. This foreshadowed what will take place when the Lord reigns in power and in peace. Until Solomon the Prince of Peace was on the throne, the ark did not enter its final resting place. God will not rest until the true Prince of Peace is made King over all the earth. Since what was taking place foreshadowed the future, the priests were appointed to carry the ark into its final home. When the people crossed the Jordan — that river a picture of death — by the way prepared for them, the priests bore the ark on their shoulders. It was foreshadowed that the Lord would make a way for His own through death. When the Lord was pulling down the stronghold of the enemy, the ark was again carried on the shoulders of the sons of Aaron. When God took possession of the land through His people, the priests carried the ark. And now, about to enter His resting place on earth, it was taken on the shoulders of priests into its prepared place, never to leave it.
The tent is retired, but the ark is not. One writer sees the ark's long journey as a picture of Christ:
The ark is the symbol of Christ as the Sustainer of the throne of God (the mercy seat). It had dwelt in tents for many years. This speaks of Christ travelling with His people as a Stranger, until the day when He will take His rightful throne in the millennial kingdom.
- Gathered. Two separate centres of worship, Gibeon and Zion, both give way so that Israel has one place — Moriah.
- Carried. Priests bear the ark the last stretch, as they did through the Jordan and when the enemy's stronghold fell.
- Retired. The tent of meeting appears here for the last time. It was not defeated but finished, its work done once the kingdom was settled.
- Kept. Commentators differ over whether the old vessels were shelved or taken up. They agree that the tabernacle's meaning was not thrown away when the greater house replaced it.
- Rested. The ark alone survives the move. It belonged in both houses — a picture of Christ, who travelled with His people before taking His throne. God will not rest until the true Prince of Peace is King over all the earth.
And king Solomon, and all the assembly of Israel, that were assembled to him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen which could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.
Israel brings the ark up to Solomon's new temple. The king and the whole nation stand in front of it and sacrifice so many animals that no one can count them. Why so many, and what were they pointing to?
This was a planned public event, and the month it fell in matters.
Bringing the ark to the temple called for a special public ceremony, because this was to be an occasion of great rejoicing. Solomon gathered the elders of Israel and all the heads of the 12 tribes, the leading fathers of Israel, to Jerusalem for it. It fell at the feast of the seventh month, very likely the Feast of Tabernacles, which began on the 15th day of that month. That feast pictures the blessing of Israel's glory in the coming thousand-year kingdom.
So why the huge celebration? One writer asks that question and gives a fuller answer.
We may well ask, why all this great ceremony and rejoicing? Was it only that the ark had reached a resting-place at last? That is true, but it is not the whole truth. It was that God, the God of Israel, the one living and true God, was entering His resting-place on earth. This foreshadows what will happen when the Lord Jesus reigns in power and in peace over the earth. The ark never entered its final resting-place until Solomon the Prince of Peace came to the throne. In the same way, God will not rest for good until the true Prince of Peace, whom Solomon pictured, is made King over all the earth.
Notice where the people stand as they sacrifice: with their king, in front of the ark. That one object holds them together.
What a good thing it was to see this great gathering united in honouring their God, with His ark at the centre of their thoughts and movements. Our honour to God can only be acceptable to Him when Christ is the object before the heart, directing all our movements for His pleasure.
One writer notes what follows when the ark holds that place.
Worship, praise and thanksgiving flowed freely to God when the ark had its proper place in the midst of His people.
The verse gives no total. One writer explains what each animal stood for, and what the sheer number says.
Every one of these offerings is a picture of the one offering of Christ. But the number speaks of the worship of One who is worthy of unlimited adoration, because His sacrifice is of unlimited value.
The same writer finds the scale astonishing, and sees a preview in it.
This seems amazing, but it is a picture of the great work of grace that God will do among His redeemed people when the thousand-year kingdom of the Lord Jesus comes. It pictures how they will value and remember the one great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. Their praise will almost never stop.
Later a poorer, weaker generation dedicated another temple. Their offerings looked tiny beside this day. One writer makes the comparison, then answers it.
You can see their own weakness and their poor circumstances by comparing this dedication with the dedication of Solomon's temple. Back then the king sacrificed twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. That was on top of the sheep and oxen offered before the ark, which no one could count or number. If they had dwelt on this side of things, their joy might well have been mixed with weeping and tears, as it was when they laid the foundation. But faith deals with unseen things. It could remind this small, weak group that the Lord was no less mighty and no less merciful for them than for Solomon.
- Centre. The ark drew the whole nation together. Our honour to God is acceptable only when Christ is the object before the heart.
- Rest. God was entering His resting place on earth. It pointed to the day the true Prince of Peace reigns over all the earth.
- Value. Each animal pictures the one offering of Christ. The number no one could count speaks of worship due to One of unlimited worth.
- Reach. One day of endless sacrifice pictures a redeemed people whose praise will almost never stop.
- Comfort. A later, poorer group could not match the scale. Faith knew God was no less mighty and no less merciful for them than for Solomon.
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim;
Solomon has finished the temple, and the ark reaches the room built for it. Commentators look at who carried it there, at the name of that room, and at what the whole scene pictures.
Older English versions call this room "the oracle." One reference work traces where that name comes from:
In every other place in the Old Testament the word "oracle" refers to the holy of holies. It is doubtless called that because God said, "There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you ..." And it was from there that Moses received many of the laws.
One writer lists four times when the priests carried the ark. This is the last:
When the people went through the Jordan, the priests carried the ark on their shoulders. That river pictures death, and it meant so much to Israel in fact and so much to us as a picture. When the Lord was pulling down the enemy's stronghold at Jericho, the priests, the sons of Aaron, again carried the ark on their shoulders. When God took possession of the land through His people, the priests again carried the ark. And now it was about to enter His resting place on the earth. Again the priests carried it into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.
The temple was a new building. The ark that went into it was not new:
The ark remains unchanged — "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" — the great central witness to the Lord Jesus. The ark of the tabernacle is the ark of the temple. The cherubim may differ, but not the ark itself.
Kelly finds one deep point of interest here: which way these cherubim faced.
When the priests brought the ark into the temple here, the wings of the cherubim looked out toward the house. Instead of looking "inward" — which is a mistake in the older English version — they looked outward. In the tabernacle, by contrast, the cherubim looked on the blood on the mercy seat. That took up all their attention. The cherubim were the emblems of God's judicial authority. Now this is exactly the difference. Righteousness is now perfectly satisfied. It has no task left but to proclaim the greatness of the victory that Christ has won for us. In the garden of Eden the cherubim had a flaming sword to guard and keep man away. But in the temple it is another thing. There the cherubim, the witnesses of God's judicial power, look outward. It is now a question of righteous governing.
Why did this building count as God's house? One writer answers:
The ark gave the house its character. It was God's throne in the middle of Israel, and from there He governed His people on the basis of His holy law.
Commentators read the moment forward in two directions. One takes the scene as a preview of a coming reign on earth:
We may well ask, why all this great ceremony and rejoicing? Was it only that the ark had reached a resting place at last? That is surely true, but it is not the whole truth. It was that God, the God of Israel, the one living and true God, was entering into His resting place on earth. This foreshadows what will happen when the Lord Jesus reigns in power and peace over the earth. Until Solomon the prince of peace came to the throne, the ark had never entered its final resting place. In the same way, God will not rest for good until the true Prince of Peace, whom Solomon pictured, is made King over all the earth.
Another reads the same act as a picture of where Christ has already gone:
Do we not see in all this a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus entering heaven after His journeys through this world? He has left behind the scene where men despised and neglected Him. He has gone into the presence of His God and Father, where all is glory. In holiness He once passed through a world where everything was against God and defiled by sin. Now He has entered the holy place to rest from all His work.
- Journey. Jordan, Jericho, the land, and now the temple — four times priests carried the ark, and this fourth was the last.
- Arrival. Older versions call the room the oracle, because God promised to meet and speak with His people there, above the ark.
- Unchanged. The building was new; the ark was not — "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
- Satisfied. In the tabernacle the cherubim looked down at the blood. Here they look outward, and righteousness has nothing left to do but announce the victory.
- Rest. The ark was God's throne, so it gave the house its character. Its rest there pictures Christ now in heaven, and the earth at peace under His reign.