Temple

Concept

The Temple (Hebrew hekal, "great house"; bayit, "house") was the permanent sanctuary in Jerusalem that replaced the tabernacle as the dwelling of God's presence among Israel. Three temples stood on Mount Moriah: Solomon's (completed c. 959 B.C., destroyed 586 B.C.), the Second Temple of Zerubbabel (completed 516 B.C., expanded under Herod and destroyed A.D. 70), and the eschatological temple of Ezekiel's vision (Ezek. 40–48). The temple was the center of Israel's sacrificial worship, annual pilgrimage feasts, and priestly service — the architectural expression of the covenant relationship between God and his people. The New Testament interprets the temple typologically in multiple registers: Jesus is the true temple (John 2:19–21; Rev. 21:22), believers collectively are God's temple indwelt by the Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21), and the heavenly sanctuary is the archetype of which the earthly was a copy (Heb. 8:2; 9:11).