Temple Porch
The porch spans twenty cubits across the temple width and projects ten cubits before the main hall (1 Kings 6:3). Kings does not supply its height; Chronicles records 120 cubits (2 Chronicles 3:4). Its height in the cutaway is schematic.
Key points
- The porch announces the approach to the temple interior.
- Look for: The portico behind the bronze pillars.
- Illustrated location: Porch & Holy Place
- A reconstruction of Solomon’s First Temple from 1 Kings 6–8 and 2 Chronicles 3–4. Ten lampstands and ten tables follow Chronicles; this is a different building from the Second Temple described by Josephus. The house and inner-room proportions follow Kings. Courts, furnishing spacing, vertical details, and the exposed cutaway are schematic. The upper side-chamber stories are omitted. Smaller furnishings, including the Ark, are enlarged or simplified for visibility. The texts do not specify an exact visual blueprint or the forms of the cherubim. Pillar heights and the Sea’s capacity differ between Kings and Chronicles; the relevant landmark notes preserve those differences. Symmetric rows on both physical sides are one reading of the right/left descriptions. Rashi instead places the lampstands together south and the tables together north, interpreting right/left relative to Moses’ original furnishings. The gilding of all ten tables, altar horns, entrance steps, and exact furniture profiles are inferred display choices, not details stated together in Chronicles. Small service vessels, including the hundred golden basins of 2 Chronicles 4:8, are not individually modeled.
- Entering sacred space (Christian typology): The tabernacle court, Temple porch, and church narthex each organize an approach to worship. Orthodox interpretation reads this movement as preparation for the gathered Church and the Holy Table.
- These spaces belong to different periods and serve different purposes. The Court of the Gentiles belongs to the later Second Temple; it is not shown in this Solomon’s Temple model. Contemporary parish practice does not generally require visitors to remain in the narthex.
- Prayer has a direction (Historical connection): Solomon’s prayer speaks of prayer toward the Temple and Jerusalem. A synagogue’s prayer direction therefore depends on its location. Orthodox churches commonly turn toward liturgical east, understood in relation to Christ and His coming.
- These directions are not identical. The biblical tabernacle and this Temple model have an eastern entrance and inner sanctuary to the west; liturgical east in a church can differ from compass east.
Scripture
- 1 Kings 6 — The porch spans twenty cubits across the temple width and projects ten cubits before the main hall (1 Kings 6:3). Kings does not supply its height; Chronicles records 120 cubits (2 Chronicles 3:4). Its height in the cutaway is schematic.
- 2 Chronicles 3 — The porch spans twenty cubits across the temple width and projects ten cubits before the main hall (1 Kings 6:3). Kings does not supply its height; Chronicles records 120 cubits (2 Chronicles 3:4). Its height in the cutaway is schematic.
- Exodus 27:9–19 — Entering sacred space: The tabernacle court, Temple porch, and church narthex each organize an approach to worship. Orthodox interpretation reads this movement as preparation for the gathered Church and the Holy Table.
- 1 Kings 6:1–35 — Entering sacred space: The tabernacle court, Temple porch, and church narthex each organize an approach to worship. Orthodox interpretation reads this movement as preparation for the gathered Church and the Holy Table.
- 1 Kings 8:9, 27–30, 46–50 — Prayer has a direction: Solomon’s prayer speaks of prayer toward the Temple and Jerusalem. A synagogue’s prayer direction therefore depends on its location. Orthodox churches commonly turn toward liturgical east, understood in relation to Christ and His coming.
Sources and further reading
- 1 Kings 8:9, 27–30, 46–50 — World English Bible
- Exodus 27:9–19 — World English Bible
- John of Damascus — An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 12
- Chabad — Synagogue Architecture
- OCA — The Church Building
- OCA — The Divine Liturgy
- 1 Kings 6 — World English Bible
- 2 Chronicles 3 — World English Bible