Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David… 2 Chronicles 3:1

David wanted to build a house (temple) for God. God forbade David to build the temple. God allowed David’s son and successor, Solomon to build the temple. The record of the construction of Solomon’s temple takes three and a half chapters of 2 Chronicles (3:1-5:12) and more than two chapters of 1 Kings (6:1-8:9).

It was truly a marvel!

But as Solomon was only a partial fulfillment of God’s Davidic Covenant (which was fully revealed in Christ Jesus), so Solomon’s temple, as awe-inspiring as it was, is only a type of the temple Christ promised to build (Matthew 16:18) and is currently building (Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-10).

Solomon used only the choicest of materials to build his temple. By way of contrast, Jesus uses only damaged materials—we who are ruined by sin! But what Christ is building will be infinitely greater—not because of the materials He uses, but because He is the Master Builder!

Soli Deo Gloria!