1 Kings 6:20

20 The inner sanctuary was thirty feet in length, width, and height. Solomon overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar.

1 Kings 6:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:20

And the oracle in the forepart
Which stood in the forepart of the temple, before a man's face as he entered into it, and went on; or the forepart of the holy of holies, next to the holy place, was of the dimensions as follows, when the back part of it might be higher at least, and be equal to the holy place, even thirty feet; the forepart being lower, and left open to let in the light of the candlesticks, and the smoke of the incense, out of the holy place: this

[was] twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty
cubits in the height thereof:
and was a perfect square, and as the most holy place may be an emblem of the church triumphant, it may denote the perfection of its heavenly state; so the new Jerusalem is a foursquare, ( Revelation 21:16 ) ;

and he overlaid it with pure gold;
make it rich, glorious, and magnificent, and may denote the glory of the heavenly state, ( Revelation 21:21 ) ; and so Florus ^F26, the Roman historian, calls it the golden heaven, as it were, into which Pompey went, and saw the great secret of the Jewish nation, the ark:

and [so] covered the altar [which was of] cedar;
the altar of incense, which is here mentioned, because it was near the most holy place, ( 1 Kings 6:22 ) ; this altar by Moses was made of shittim wood, but Solomon's was of cedar it seems; unless, as the words will bear to be rendered, "he covered the altar with cedar" ^F1; though made of shittim wood, it had a covering of cedar over it; or if of stone, such a covering was on it, that it might better receive the gold which was afterwards put upon it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 De Gest. Roman. l. 3. c. 5.
F1 (zra Puy) "operuit cedro", Montanus.

1 Kings 6:20 In-Context

18 The cedar inside the temple was carved with gourds and blossoming flowers. The whole thing was cedar. No stone was seen.

19 He set up the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that he could put the chest containing the LORD's covenant there.

20 The inner sanctuary was thirty feet in length, width, and height. Solomon overlaid it with pure gold and covered the altar with cedar.

21 Solomon covered the temple's interior with pure gold. He placed gold chains in front of the inner sanctuary and covered it with gold.

22 He overlaid the whole temple inside with gold until the temple was completely covered. He covered the whole altar that was in the inner sanctuary with gold.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb uncertain