The Vessels in the House
As we continue to explore the Temple Solomon built we are given further pictures of what the Lord will build in the Church. Every object of importance and value, set aside from normal use for the special service to usher people into the presence of God.
2 Chronicles 4:1–2 (ESV) He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. 2 Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
It is interesting to remember that the "he" in this chapter is NOT referring to Solomon but rather to the man Hiram sent to Solomon with the skills he needed to fashion the articles of the Temple together. Remember from 2 Chronicles 2, Hiram king of Tyre reports to Solomon:
2 Chronicles 2:13–14 (ESV) “Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father.
The Lord would use this gentile man to help Solomon beautify the temple. No doubt a picture of the many Gentiles today that make up the Body of Christ and bring beauty to the presence of God among His people with their skills and craftsmanship.
2 Chronicles 4:11 (ESV) Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God:
What a picture for us. Solomon, the Jewish son of David begins the work and Hiram (who is also referred to as Huram) is the gentile that completes the work. What does Paul say about the Church and the Jews in this age?
Romans 11:25 (ESV) Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
The Church was begun by the true Jew, Jesus Christ and inaugurated through his Jewish disciples. But you don't get far in Acts before Gentiles come sweeping into the family of God. And they are fashioned in the costly beauty of God's grace made available to them through Christ's blood.
Then we see the completion of the Temple in the first part of the next chapter:
2 Chronicles 5:1 (ESV) Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.
Do you see this? A picture of the final days when the valuable articles are brought in from David's time with the articles fashioned by the Gentile laborer. We will one day see this picture fulfilled in the last day when Christ gathers together all the elect from the four winds of heaven, the Jews and Gentiles and they shall be one people for all time, enjoying the presence of Almighty God.
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