King Solomon Built the Temple for the Ark

Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple) is something like a Great Phantom: everybody knows that it existed… but no one knows where exactly. No remains of the destroyed temple (or any evidence of its existence) have ever been found.

Though most modern scholars do agree that the First Temple existed on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by the time of the Babylonian siege, and there is significant debate among scholars over the date of its construction (most believe that it was 10th century BC) and the identity of its builder.

Not everyone is convinced it was biblical King Solomon… or that the latter existed at all As is the case with most biblical personages in the middle era of Israelite society, the historicity of Solomon is hotly debated to this day.

Although the exact location of the Temple is unknown. It is believed to have been situated upon the hill that forms the site of the Second Temple and present-day Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock is situated.

According to biblical narrative, Solomon’s Temple was built specifically to house the Ark of the Covenant to replace a modest mobile sanctuary used for centuries. This decision makes complete sense as the Temple (like any religious building) is a powerful amplifier of spiritual energies (in this case, Divine Grace).

According to Old Testament, construction of the First Temple was completed in record seven years (in reality it most definitely took much longer). Construction of the adjacent Palace of Solomon took 13 years which sounds far more realistic.

The core of Solomon’s Temple was a special inner room inside the Tabernacle, named Holy of Holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant. When the priests emerged from the holy place after placing the Ark there, the Temple was filled with a cloud, “for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord”.

The parochet, a brocade curtain with cherubim motifs woven directly into the fabric from the loom, divided the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place.

The Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount; its precise location in the Mount being a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location with the Foundation Stone, which sits under the Dome of the Rock shrine.

According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies was covered by a veil and no one was allowed to enter except the High Priest, and even he would only enter once a year on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), to offer the blood of sacrifice and incense.