The temple constructed by Solomon was made of stone, a departure from God’s heaven-earth complex that was fashioned like a tent. If Andy Hoy is correct, the tabernacle in the wilderness was a very good likeness of what God made in the beginning. He believes it was a dome-type tent, similar to a yurt. According to his research, it is the only model that works without making adjustments to the exact materials spelled out in the biblical text.

The temple, however, conforms to the rectangular design most people have always assumed for the tent in the wilderness. The first stone temple was indeed glorious, as no doubt heaven is. Like the tabernacle in the wilderness, it also had the dividing veil or curtain decorated with cherubim and the other furniture in the inner court. The Ark of God’s presence was in the Holy of Holies.

The Jews defiled this stone temple, just as Adam and Eve defiled God’s first temple, the earth.

The temple of Solomon started well, as did that great king. However, just as King Solomon soon became corrupt and began worshiping other gods, God’s temple eventually was corrupted as well. As Israel and Judah sank deeper into idolatry, pagan idols were brought into the temple itself. 

He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger. 7 Then he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 2 Kings 21:4–7 (NASB95)

Ezekiel saw in a vision the extent of this corruption and the impending destruction of the first temple.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.” 7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.” 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.” 16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.” Ezekiel 8:5–18 (NASB95)

Eventually God used the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and take a large number of the remaining people into captivity. After seventy years, the temple was rebuilt at the command of King Cyrus of Persia. 

The most detailed contemporary description of this second temple comes from the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (a priest who knew the Temple firsthand) in The Jewish War (5.5.4 §§212–214):

“It was a Babylonian curtain [or tapestry], embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of materials without its mystic meaning… Portrayed on it was a panorama of the heavens [or entire heavens], except for the signs of the zodiac.”

It continued to represent the firmament, but it is notable that it was a “Babylonian” curtain. The Babylonian Talmud, which made up a great deal of the teachings of the Pharisees, led to the Jewish people departing from the faith of Abraham and embracing a works-based religion which Jesus condemned.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15 (NASB95)

Jesus, the long-promised Messianic King, brought the reality of the kingdom of God to the earth.

He told the Samaritan woman at the well that the day was fast approaching when the temple would no longer be significant. He told his disciples that no stone would remain intact after the coming destruction. This was inconceivable to his followers, but necessary. In 70 AD, the Roman army completely destroyed that temple, which has never been rebuilt. The old order of things, including the temple and its sacrifices, were coming to an end. Something brand new was coming. That will be the subject of the next article.

• Part 6: The New Covenant Tabernacle 

  • Link to this series.
  • Link to all articles on biblical cosmology.
  • Link to resource page where I have put all sorts of information relevant to cosmology.

The tabernacle in the wilderness was both a recollection of what God originally created and a foreshadowing of what is to come. It reminded the Israelites of the original earth tabernacle with its tent-like firmament overarching it. This is especially true if Andy Hoy’s theory is correct that the tent of meeting was actually dome-shaped. The wilderness tabernacle consisted of an altar, a basin, an outer court, and inner court, and a Holy of Holies which housed the Ark, symbolic of God’s manifest presence. The top diagram above is a rendering based on the common conception of how this tabernacle appeared. The dome structure is Hoy’s model. Hoy’s dome structure would have contained what is pictured above in the first tabernacle diagram.

A model of the Hebrew (biblical) conception of the earth shows a similar construction.

The earth would be the outer court. Just beneath the firmament represented the inner court, and atop the firmament was God’s throne, the Holy of Holies. The solid firmament is the separator, represented by the curtain in the tabernacle. 

This curtain in the tabernacle in the wilderness was decorated with winged cherubim. 

You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. Exodus 26:31 (NASB95)

Cherubim were also next to the firmament in Ezekiel’s vision from beneath looking upward toward God’s throne.

And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. Ezekiel 10:1 (NKJV)

The veil in the tabernacle was supported by pillars, as is the firmament.

You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. 32 “You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver. Exodus 26:31–32 (NASB95)

The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. Job 26:11 (NASB95)

Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. 2 Samuel 22:8 (NKJV)

A candelabrum lighted the inner court, just as stars light the firmament. The bread of the presence in the same area perhaps signified the manna that fell from heaven (Psalm 78:24) for the sustenance of the Israelites on the desert journey. The true bread, of course, is our Lord Jesus (John 6:51). The altar of incense represented the prayers of God’s people (Revelation 5:8) that penetrate the firmament and come into God’s presence. The Ark represented God’s throne in heaven, the mercy seat where all those who put their faith and allegiance in Christ have the privilege of complete access.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, Hebrews 10:19–21 (NKJV)

Through his death, resurrection, and ascension, our high priest, Jesus, entered through the veil into God’s presence once for all giving us access to God.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:11–15 (NASB95)

It is important to understand that the heavens and earth are one unit.

The earth serves as a foundation for heaven. What happens on earth affects heaven, and vice versa. Both have been defiled to some degree by Satan, who has now been cast down to the earth (Revelation 12:9, Luke 10:18), and both will be destroyed and replaced at the end.

Just as the curtain prevented anyone but the high priest from entering once a year, the firmament acts as a separator between the third heaven and the earth. The people alive at the time of the tower of Babel tried to penetrate the firmament into God’s realm. Tradition says that Nimrod wished to ascend into heaven and shoot God with his arrows, but just as God thwarted Satan’s coup attempt, he crushed the Babelic one, too.

Man continues his quest to leave our assigned earthly habitation and pierce the realm reserved by God.

Now we do it by launching rockets to try to penetrate the firmament. In 1962, the US was audacious enough to launch and detonate atomic bombs in the heavens, apparently to test the strength of the firmament.

Those that go straight up invariably strike the firmament.

Most however appear to take a curved arc into the ocean. The Bermuda Triangle mystery began about the same time we began our missile launches. If the Bible is correct, and it is, what is called outer space is imaginary. The only thing comparable in Scripture is “outer darkness,” a place of judgment.

My opinion is that Satan has so duped mankind that we have joined him in his rebellion against the true God and wish to go with him to the place of judgment.

The complete irony of it all is that so many Christians passionately defend the heliocentric deception rather than believe the clear words of the Bible. We have been programmed from early childhood to believe that the earth is a “planet,” which in Greek means wanderer or deceiver. All the other so-called planets or wandering stars, as the Bible calls them, are named after pagan gods, which is no accident, as are NASA’s space missions. We have been taught to believe that the earth, the stable, motionless habitation created by God for man, is now wandering in outer space at incredible speeds toward an unknown destination.

We have joined Satan’s fallen angels in wandering away from God and his plan for us.

...wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Jude 13 (NKJV)

My prayer is that the church will awaken to this blasphemy and repent for believing the occult religion of heliocentrism that teaches us that mankind and the earth are nothing special.

After Jesus arose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, passing through the firmament into God’s presence where he is now enthroned at God’s right hand. Heaven is a real, physical location where Jesus’ resurrected body dwells. Occasionally God opens the heavens and gives people a glimpse of this glorious scene. The Book of Acts records the following as Stephen preached his last sermon just prior to being stoned to death at the hands of the Jews.

But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. Acts 7:55–57 (NASB95)

Heaven is a real place created along with the earth during those six days recorded in Genesis Chapter One. It is separated from earth by the firmament, above which sits God’s throne. The tabernacle in the wilderness modeled this reality. God foresaw man’s fall and constructed the original tabernacle of the heaven and earth with this dividing barrier. That was never God’s final intent, as we shall see at the end of this series. 

• Part 5: The Temple

  • Link to this series.
  • Link to all articles on biblical cosmology.
  • Link to resource page where I have put all sorts of information relevant to cosmology.