He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place.
Solomon's builders wall off the last twenty cubits at the back of the house with boards of cedar. Why line stone walls with wood, and what does this inner room — the place Scripture calls Most Holy — stand for?
The inner sanctuary
Some translations call this room the oracle. It was the second of the two chambers. God had a throne there, and almost no one could come near Him — until Christ made atonement.
H Forbes WitherbyThe Holiest of All was the second, or inner, chamber of God's dwelling. Here, from His symbolic throne, Jehovah spoke to the mediator (Ex. 25:22). This chamber was closed against all human access, except once a year, when the high priest entered in to make atonement for the sins of the people... God is no longer dwelling in thick darkness. He is no longer shut off from man. He has come out to man, and He has done so according to the majesty of His throne. Through the sacrificial and priestly work of God's Son, man is urged to draw near to God in His holiness. When Christ made atonement, God tore the veil from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51), from heaven to earth. He destroyed it.
Cedar over every wall
The cedar lining did not stop partway. It ran over every wall, and gold then covered the cedar.
H. L. RossierThe oracle as well as the holy place ("the temple before it") was covered with cedar wood. In the Word cedar represents majesty and height, durability and firmness. No part of the walls within was left uncovered. Nowhere did the stone appear. But the cedar wood itself, and even the planks of cypress that made the floor, were entirely covered with gold. In the Word gold always represents divine righteousness and glory.
Nothing of the quarry left in view
The stones came out of a quarry. Once the walls stood, not one of them showed — and one writer reads that covering as a picture of the believer's past.
W. W. FeredayGod is today getting His stones out of nature's quarry by means of the gospel... But no stone was seen in Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:18). All were completely covered with refined silver (1 Chron. 29:4). In the same way, all that we were by nature is covered by Christ's redemption.
A room of equal measure
The twenty cubits walled off here are also the room's width and height. That makes it a cube — the shape of the city at the end of the Bible.
H. L. RossierAs in the tabernacle in the wilderness, the most holy place formed a perfect cube within... So it will be with the New Jerusalem: "The length is as large as the breadth" (Rev. 21:16). The result of God's work is perfect, with nothing to add and nothing to take away. Everything is ordered according to the mind of the Divine Architect.
Why cedar and not acacia
The tabernacle — the tent Israel carried through the desert — used a different wood. Commentators read the change of timber as a change of setting.
Leslie M. GrantThe temple inside was panelled with beams and boards of cedar (v. 9). The tabernacle was built of acacia boards (Ex. 26:15). Acacia is a hard, desert wood. It speaks of humanity in the passing circumstances of desert life. Those boards picture believers as they are seen even now "in Christ," for they were covered with gold. But the cedar of the temple is an especially long-lasting wood. It speaks of believers in glory, in the Father's house. They too are clothed with gold, the symbol of divine glory. They will reflect the beauty of Christ for eternity, not only on earth.
What stood at the entrance
Commentators differ on what hung across the entrance. One links the missing veil in Kings to the viewpoint of the book.
W. W. FeredayNotice that the Kings description of the temple never mentions the veil or the bronze altar. Only the Chronicles account does. This is because the earlier description views the temple mainly as the dwelling place of God. The later one sees it instead as the seat of divine government, and the place where God's people come to Him.
Another says golden doors stand where the veil stood. The way in is wider — though limits remained.
H. L. RossierAs stated before, the veil is not mentioned here. A double door of olive wood (v. 31) overlaid with gold replaces it. That is a free, wide way in, and it lets the eye reach into the most holy place. Even so, in keeping with the order of things under the law, golden chains were stretched out before the oracle (v. 21).
Summary
- Partition — the last twenty cubits form the inner chamber. God's throne stood there, and only the high priest entered, once a year, to make atonement.
- Cedar — a wood of majesty, height, durability and firmness. It replaces the desert acacia: not believers in wilderness conditions, but believers in glory.
- Covered — no stone stayed in sight. All that we were by nature lies hidden under Christ's redemption, and gold over the cedar puts divine righteousness and glory on every surface.
- Cube — length, width and height all alike. It is the shape of the New Jerusalem: God's finished work needs nothing added and nothing taken away.
- Access — commentators differ on whether a veil still hung at the entrance. Kings shows the house first of all as God's dwelling. When Christ made atonement, God tore the veil, and man is now urged to draw near.