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Herod's Temple - inside the Holy Place

Bible overview
The Holy Place and Holy of Holies.
Contributed by Bible Scenes
1
Access to the Sanctuary was via 12 steps to the top of the Sanctuary foundation. At the top of the steps was the porch. The opening to the Temple was 20 cubits high and 10 cubits wide (10.5m x 5.25m, 34ft x 17ft). One set of doors was on the outside and another set was inside. Each door had folding halves so that when folded they fitted into recesses in the 6 cubit (3.1m,10.3ft) thick wall. – Slide 1
2
Ahead was the Holy Place (heikhal) 40 cubits (21m, 68.8ft) long and 20 cubits, (10.5m, 34.4ft). – Slide 2
3
It contained the Golden menorah or lampstand, the table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense. Behind the veil was the Holy of Holies. – Slide 3
4
The walls and floor of the Holy Place were coated with gold. Middot 4.1 says that ‘all the House was overlaid with gold.’ <br/>Another historical reference to the gold of the Temple is to be found in the New Testament (Matt. 23:16,17) where Jesus berates the Pharisees and Scribes who said: ‘Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!’ – Slide 4
5
Gold was the most valuable of metals. It stood for anything of great value (Proverbs 3:14; 8:10,19; 16:16,22; 25:12), hence was most worthy for use in worshipping God (Exodus 25, Revelation 1:12,13,10). – Slide 5
6
The golden candlestick (menorah), with its seven golden lamps, was on the south side of the Holy Place. It was made of gold beaten into shape by the workman’s hammer. The lamps were lit daily from fresh, consecrated olive oil and burned from evening until morning. They were lit from right to left. Wicks were created from the worn-out garments of the priests. – Slide 6
7
The table of showbread was placed on the north side of the first apartment of the sanctuary. The table was two cubits long, a cubit and a half in width, and a cubit and a half in height. It was overlaid with pure gold and ornamented with a crown of gold around the top. <br/>On the Sabbath day the Levites made twelve loaves, or cakes, of unleavened bread. These cakes were placed hot on the table each Sabbath day, arranged in two rows, or piles, six in a row, with pure frankincense on each row. <br/>During the entire week the bread lay on the table. By some translators it is called ‘the bread of the presence.’ At the end of the week it was removed and eaten by the priests. – Slide 7
8
Every morning and evening the sacred incense (frankincense, galbanum, onycha, stacte, myrrh, cassia, spikenard) was burned on the incense altar which was positioned in front of the veil. God gave the recipe for making the incense and stipulated that no other incense ever be burned on the altar (verses 34–38). The fire used to burn the incense was always taken from the altar of burnt offering outside the sanctuary. In Scripture, incense is often associated with prayer. David prayed, ‘May my prayer be set before you like incense’ (Psalm 141:2). – Slide 8
9
The Holy of Holies was screened from sight behind a huge veil (paroket). A mishnaic tract states, ‘Its length was 40 cubits (21m, 68.8ft).and its width 20 cubits (10.5m, 34.4ft)’. It was made by 82 young girls and it took 300 priests to wash it.’ However Jewish records (Yoma 5:1) indicate that although there was one veil it was looped in a way to create an outer and inner curtain with a space inbetween. Middot 4.7 refers to this ‘dividing space. Some argue there was one veil and after it was torn in two from the top to the bottom on the death of Jesus that it was replaced by a double veil to prevent this happening again. In this reconstruction the outer veil shows the imagery of the of the four creatures in Ezekiel 41. – Slide 9
10
Middot 4.5 indicates that the High Priest on Yom Kippur would go round the edge of the outer veil on the south side. – Slide 10
11
He then passed between the outer and inner veil until he reached the north wall and went round the edge of this inner veil into the Holy of Holies. This veil is shown as being woven of blue, purple, crimson and white thread as was the one in the Tabernacle. – Slide 11
12
The Holy of Holies (Kodesh HaKodashim or debir) was 20 cubits (10.5m, 34.4ft). It was empty for the Ark of the Covenant went missing either before or during the Babylonian invasion and destruction of the Temple. There are many theories and much speculation about what happened to the Ark of the Covenant. After the Ark was removed, a stone with a recess for the Ark remained. This stone was called the Shetiyah. It was higher than the ground by three finger breadths. – Slide 12
13
Had the Ark of the Covenant been available it would have stood in the gap in the rock which held it. This same gap can be seen today in the same rock which is currently covered by the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. – Slide 13
14
There were no windows in the holy of Holies but there were gaps in the ceiling through which priests could be lowered in baskets to clean the walls without touching the floor. – Slide 14
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Slide 15