CHAPTER 4

(1012 B.C.)

THE FURNISHING OF THE TEMPLE: THE BRAZEN ALTAR

¹Moreover he made an Altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof (30 feet long), and twenty cubits the breadth thereof (30 feet wide), and ten cubits the height thereof (15 feet high; this means that the Brazen Altar was the same dimensions as the Most Holy Place; the Altar portrayed Gods Judgment on sin; the Holy of Holies portrayed His Mercy and Grace; therefore, Gods Mercy and Grace are as large as His Judgment).

²Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits (15 feet) from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof (7 feet); and a line of thirty cubits (45 feet) did compass it round about.

³And under it was the similitude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about. Two rows of oxen were cast, when it was cast.

⁴It stood upon twelve oxen (the number twelve signifies Gods Government, while oxen symbolize the Word of God; so, Gods Government is built entirely upon His Word, from which we must not deviate at all), three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east (signifying that Gods Government is the same throughout the entirety of the Earth; in other words, there is no such thing as a white mans gospel, or a black mans gospel, etc.; it is one Gospel for the entirety of mankind): and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward (signifying that the strength of the oxen holds up the Great Laver, symbolizing the power of the Word of God).

⁵And the thickness of it was an handbreadth (about 4 inches), and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies (purity of Christ); and it received and held three thousand baths (about 18,000 gallons; I Ki. 7:27 says, two thousand baths; there is no contradiction; the three thousand baths were the maximum amount of water that the molten sea would hold; two thousand baths were the amount it generally held).

LAVERS OF BRASS

⁶He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the Burnt Offering they washed in them (these were used to wash the sacrifices before they were offered); but the sea (Brazen Laver) was for the Priests to wash in (which they had to do, washing both hands and feet, every time they went into the Temple; the Brazen Laver, as well, was a Type of the Word of God; as the Priests looked into the water, they would see their reflection, as in a mirror; likewise, when we read and study the Word of God, we see our reflection in the Word proclaiming to us what we are; the oxen stand for the indestructibility, power, and strength of the Word of God).

GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS

⁷And he made ten candlesticks (Lampstands) of gold (typifying the fact that Christ is the Light of the world) according to their form, and set them in the Temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

⁸He made also ten tables (tables of Shewbread), and placed them in the Temple, five on the right side, and five on the left (there was only one Lampstand and one Table in the Tabernacle, but here there are ten of each). And he made an hundred basons of gold (the tables each held twelve loaves of bread, which had to be eaten by the Priests every Sabbath, with new loaves taking their place; the bread was a Type of Christ as the Bread of Life [Jn. 6:48]).

THE COURTS AND DOORS

⁹Furthermore he made the Court of the Priests, and the Great Court, and Doors for the Court, and overlaid the Doors of them with brass (the Doors also typified Christ; He said, I am the Door [Jn. 10:9]; the brass signified the humanity of Christ).

¹⁰And he set the Sea on the right side of the east end, over against the south (the Brazen Laver, i.e., the Sea, had its position as the Tabernacle Laver of old, which was between the Altar and the porch).

SUMMARY OF HURAMS METAL WORK

¹¹And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the House of God (in a sense, Huram is a Type of the Holy Spirit, Who will finish the work regarding the Church, thereby presenting us faultless before the Throne of God [Jude, Vs. 24]);

¹²To wit, the two pillars, and the pommels (shaped like a ball), and the chapiters which were on the top of the two pillars, and the two wreaths (chains) to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were on the top of the pillars;

¹³And four hundred pomegranates (typical of the Fruit of the Spirit) on the two wreaths (chains, which typified our union with Christ); two rows of pomegranates on each wreath, to cover the two pommels of the chapiters which were upon the pillars.

¹⁴He made also bases, and lavers made he upon the bases (the ten Lavers [Vs. 6] were placed on the bases);

¹⁵One sea, and twelve oxen under it.

¹⁶The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all their instruments, did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the House of the LORD of bright brass.

¹⁷In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah. (This represents death and Resurrection. In a sense, there must be a death to the old self, with the new self raised in the identification of Christ. This means that all former identity for the Believer must be lost; what we were before Salvation is of no consequence. Truly, the Holy Spirit is making a new creature, which can only be carried out by our understanding that we are baptized into His death, buried with Him by baptism into death, and raised with Him in newness of life [Rom. 6:3-4]. So, all of these heathen gold idols, along with the silver and the brass, had to be melted, which means they lost their old identity, and then fashioned into a new mold, in order to be of fit use for the Temple. This is a picture of what the Spirit of God does with us, which is carried out by and through the Cross [I Cor. 1:17-18, 23; 2:2].)

¹⁸Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out.

¹⁹And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the House of God, the golden Altar also (this was the Altar of Incense, which stood immediately in front of the Holy of Holies), and the tables whereon the shewbread was set;

²⁰Moreover the candlesticks (Lampstands) with their lamps, that they should burn after the manner before the Oracle (Holy of Holies), of pure gold (the pure gold typified the Deity of Christ);

²¹And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that perfect gold (meaning that it contained no alloy whatsoever);

²²And the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the House, the inner doors thereof for the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the House of the Temple, were of gold (there is no way into this House of God except through the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Door [Jn. 10:9]).