1 And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the place which David had prepared in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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VERS. 1.-- *In the floor of Ornan.* The Church is signified by the threshing-floor, etc., *as far as* but when Christ looked upon her, she found in herself both the place and the name of peace.
2 And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
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VERS. 2.-- *In the second month,* etc. That is, in May, namely soon after the pasch, that the people, consecrated by the mystic solemnity, might worthily set about the mystic work. *In the fourth year of his reign.* After the dispensation of the divine incarnation had been fulfilled, which is written in the four Gospels, the Spirit having been sent from heaven, the Church was builded. The things which we expounded in the books of Kings, in Paralipomenon we touch upon briefly. The length of the house signifies the long patience of the Church. The breadth, the charity wherewith she loves even her enemies, until she rejoice in God with friends alone. But the height, the hope of the life to come and of the recompense, because she despises all things adverse: until she see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. It is to be noted that the thirty cubits of height which are read in Kings reached not to the roof of the temple, but as far as the lower upper chamber. For here, that the height was of a hundred and twenty cubits. Others thirty to the middle upper chamber, and others to the third, then as far as the topmost roof of the temple shall be numbered, others thirty, and so the whole height of the house is completed in a hundred and twenty cubits: by which number of men the primitive Church in Jerusalem received the grace of the Holy Spirit. For fifteen, which consists of seven and eight, signifies the life to come, which now is passed in the rest of souls and shall be perfected in the resurrection of bodies: but fifteen drawn out into a triangle, that is, numbered with all its parts, becomes a hundred and twenty, by which is designated the blessedness to come of the elect. And rightly is the third upper chamber of the house completed by this number, which after the labours of the present, after the rest of souls, is fulfilled in the resurrection in the full glory of felicity.
3 Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the house of God, the length by the first measure sixty cubits, the breadth twenty cubits.
4 And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
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VERS. 4.-- *But the porch,* etc. That is, the temple itself which was before the doors of the oracle: for the distinction of the fabric was threefold: that is, the porch before the temple: and the temple itself in which were the altar of incense, the table of proposition, and the candlestick of light: and the oracle, that is, the Holy of holies, where the ark of the testament and the cherubim were set behind the veil. But the porch before the temple bears the figure of the ancient faithful. But the temple itself, of those who came into the world after the incarnation of the Lord. And the inner house, the joys of the kingdom of heaven given to both.It is to be noted therefore that the walls of the house were made of precious stones, covered with planks of cypress or of cedar, clothed with plates of gold. Whence in Kings: *And all the house was clothed with cedar,* etc. The stones of the wall or of the pavement and the planks and the gold signify the life of the saints in the Church. The living stones are the saints, joined into one rule by the strength of faith. The planks also of cedar or of cypress are the saints, knit to one another in the same faith by the breadth of divers virtues according to the giving of the Holy Spirit. The plates of gold are the saints having the charity that surpasseth knowledge, and rejoicing together with one another in its most pleasing brightness.
5 And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them with plates of fine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm trees, and like little chains interlaced with one another.
6 He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty.
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VERS. 6.-- *He paved also the floor,* etc. As the breadth of the wall rising on high, and reaching to the panelled ceilings, signify the advances of the virtues by which the saints come to heaven, or the choirs of the saints succeeding one another through divers times: so the evenness of the pavement, their concordant humility, wherein, set in this life, they live together in the charity of fellowship. The pavement laid with precious marble with much comeliness, and the marble covered with planks of fir, because the life of the just must first be fortified in the heart by the firmness of faith: afterward adorned in work by the breadth of the virtues. For what does the comeliness of the marble profit when the planks are laid over it, unless it show forth something mystical? but it signifies that the amplitude of good works is to be propped by the strength of faith. But the fir, high and lasting, shows the mind of the elect despising the lowest things, cleaving to the heavenly, and excelling in the virtue of patience. The plates of gold laid upon the marble over the planks of fir are the breadth of charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned, which, as gold before other metals, so shines before the other virtues in the temple of God.
7 And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of the finest: and he graved cherubims on the walls.
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VERS. 7.-- *The posts and the walls,* etc. He covered them, when, the Lord himself opening the entrance of faith, he shows to all who enter the Church with what truth it shines again. The door of the temple is Christ, through whom one comes to the Father, who says: *I am the door,* etc. In Kings it is written thus: *The oracle had twenty cubits of length, and twenty of breadth and twenty of height*. The Holy of holies is called the oracle, because there by divine and angelic speech secret things are revealed to men. Whence: *The oracle in hidden places* that is, it was made in the inner house, because in the country above the vision and the address of the angels and the presence of God himself shall be revealed. In that he says twenty cubits of height, he signifies the wall of cedar which parts the oracle from the outer building. *He graved cherubim.* This house has, as is read in Kings, carvings standing out, since the saints do not do the works of the virtues in secret, but set forth an example to all.
8 He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents.
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VERS. 8.-- *He made also the house,* etc. The oracle where the ark was had twenty cubits in length, in breadth, in height, that is, foursquare: because in the country above, where the saints see the king in his beauty, the charity alone of the divine and heavenly grace shines through all. Whence in what follows: *With plates of gold he covered it*, that is, he filled the walls of the city above with the grace of charity. *With six hundred talents,* etc. In the talents, the perfection of weight, which expresses the perfection of charity, as the perfection of the six by which the hundred is multiplied, so that six hundred are made.
9 He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was fifty sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold.
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VERS. 9.-- *But the nails also.* By the number fifty the remission of sins, etc., *as far as* who, coming to the more perfect things, says of the nails of perfection: *But for me it is good to adhere to God*. *The upper chambers also.* As the Holy of holies, where the ark was, signifies the inward life of the saints in the sight of the Redeemer, whence: *Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men*. So the upper chambers on high the same life, that is, to be in heaven and not in this world, whence: *Seek the things that are above*, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.
10 He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims of image work: and he overlaid them with gold.
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VERS. 10.-- *He made also.* This is read more fully in Kings, etc., *as far as* to be rewarded with the penny of the everlasting kingdom.
11 The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the other cherub.
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VERS. 11.-- *So that the wing.* One wing of a cherub was of five cubits, etc., because the angels keep with unwearied devotion the law of God written in five books, namely by loving God out of all their strength, and their neighbours as themselves. *And the fulness of the law is charity*. Neighbours also to one another are the angelic spirits and the elect among men. Whence each wing of the cherub is of the same measure: because with the same devotion wherewith they love one another in God, they desire also our fellowship, of us who ascend to them. Alike therefore do the wings fill up ten cubits, when in the twofold showing of charity the angels are gladdened by the presence of their Maker.
12 In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was five cubits long, and reached to the wall: and his other wing was five cubits long, and touched the wing of the other cherub.
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VERS. 12.-- *They touched the wall.* They touch both walls equally with their wings, because they have with them, as possessors of the heavenly hall, the Jews and the Gentiles: not that there is there a distinction of place between the two peoples, but because the festivity of the inward blessedness is the greater from the fellowship of a brotherhood made one in God. They stretch out therefore their wings to either wall: because they stir up to the praise of the Creator the just of both peoples rejoicing in the heavenly country. They stretch out wings covered with gold to the walls of the oracle, even as they have their faces turned toward the outer house: because the angels, as they keep their own innocence, so rejoice over the blessedness of the saints, that they bring help to those whom they still behold upon earth, until they lead them into the heavenly country. *For all are ministering spirits, sent unto ministry, for the sake of them who receive the inheritance of salvation*. With their outer wings this one touches the one wall, that one the other: because the Old Testament written for the ancient people, the New for us who came to the faith after the incarnation of the Lord, and we are rightly compared to the second wall, that is, to the northern, we who after the colds and the darkness of idolatry have known the light of truth. *His wing.* They stretch out their wings toward one another over the ark, when they refer to the praise of the Saviour every good thing which they had received. They stretch out their other wings to the walls of the oracle, when they rejoice to see the saints with them, and touch them as it were with the tips of their wings, whom they exult to have been imitators of their purity in this life. *And their faces turned.* Because for the sake of us who still stand without, but are made safe by hope, the divine books were composed, whose writers, now reigning with the Lord, bear the care of our salvation, and make intercession for us with God.
13 So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the house without.
14 He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and wrought in it cherubims.
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VERS. 14.-- *He made also.* This is set down before in Kings, etc., *as far as* and the truth of the Gospel and the entrance of the kingdom is opened by the Truth itself. *And he wove in.* The cherubim are woven in with these four colours, when in all the things that we do devoutly we are protected by angelic guards from the envenomed darts of the demons, and use unceasingly the multitude of knowledge, ever looking back to the divine oracles, lest we stray from the path of the virtues.
15 He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which were five and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were five cubits.
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VERS. 15.-- *Before the doors also of the temple two pillars.* They stood in the porch before the doors of the temple, and adorned the entrance of the temple with their comeliness on either side. The door of the temple is the Lord, who says: *No man cometh to the Father, but by me,* etc.. The pillars stand about the door on either side, when the ministers of the word show to both peoples the entry of the kingdom of heaven, that whosoever shall have come to the faith of the Gospel from the light of the knowledge of the law or from the error of heathendom, may have them ready who may show him the way of salvation by word and by example. In Kings it is read of these pillars: *Who when he was come to king Solomon, wrought all his work, and he cast two pillars of brass,* etc. *Thirty and five.* This number signifies the perfection of the masters. For the number seven multiplied by five, or five by seven, yield thirty-five. But five expresses the law, and seven, on account of the sevenfold Spirit resting upon the flower of the root of Jesse, the Gospel; whence in one place the Lord is related to have fed five thousand men with five loaves, and in another four thousand men with seven loaves. The pillars therefore of thirty-five cubits signify that the teachers of the Gospel have perfect knowledge of the two Testaments, whence: *To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God*. And elsewhere: *He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures*. *As it were little chains.* The manifold weaving of the chains and of the net, according to Kings the spreading ( *sic* ), suggests the manifold persons of the elect, who, when by faithfully hearkening and by obeying they cleave to the words of the preachers, as it were nets and little chains laid upon the heads of the pillars, offer to them that behold the marvel of their own knitting together.
16 He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which he put between the little chains.
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VERS. 16.-- *Upon the heads of the pillars.* The heads of the pillars, that is, the topmost part, are the hearts of the teachers, by whose thoughts devoted to God, as the members by the head, so all their works and words are directed. *Pomegranates.* With one rind without they enclose many seeds within, whence they signify the Church, because by the defence of the one faith she encloses innumerable troops of the elect, or the life and manners of every just man, who fence about with the firm guard of faith and of humility the many marks of thoughts and of virtues, lest perhaps they flow away. And fitly were the heads of the pillars encircled round about with pomegranates, because the holy teachers call back to memory the life of the faithful of former times; and by their examples they confirm their own discourses also on every side, lest, if they should live or teach otherwise than their rule holds, they should err.
17 These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right hand, he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Booz.
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VERS. 17.-- *The same pillars also.* Therefore were two pillars made, and so disposed, that they may teach that the entrance of the heavenly kingdom is, in prosperous things and in adverse, to be held before our eyes. But it is to be noted that the porch of the temple is also called the vestibule, and that what we read, between the vestibule and the altar, ought to be understood, between the porch and the altar. The second pillar signifies the preachers who were sent to the Gentiles to preach. Or the right pillar signifies those who prophesied that the Lord would come in the flesh. But the second, those who bear witness that he has already come and has redeemed the world by his own blood. Both pillars are reckoned under a like name, when the one is called firmness and the other in strength, so that one fortitude, of faith and of work, may be shown to be in all teachers, and the teachers of our own time may be silently marked, who wish to be seen and to be called pillars of the house of God, since in themselves, of a firm faith for despising the pomps of the world, for desiring the invisible good things, they have nothing of strength for correcting, nor of diligence for understanding, the errors of those over whom they are set.