Temple Construction Begins
1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
Dimensions and Materials
3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the house of the Lord. The length was 90 feet and the width was 30 feet. 4 The porch that was in front, its length, according to the width of the house, was 30 feet, and the height 30 feet; and he overlaid it with pure gold.
5 He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood which he overlaid with fine gold and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. 6 He decorated the house with precious stones for beauty. The gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was 30 feet, and its width 30 feet; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 24 tons. 9 The weight of each nail was 20 ounces of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim by carving, and they overlaid them with gold.
The Cherubim
11 The wings of the cherubim were 30 feet long: the wing of the one was 7½ feet long, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was also 7½ feet long, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other cherub was 7½ feet long, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was 7½ feet long, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house.
The Veil and Pillars
14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and ornamented it with cherubim.
15 Also he made before the house two pillars of 27 feet in height, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was 7½ feet. 16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary and put them on the tops of the pillars, and he made 100 pomegranates and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and called the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.