1 Kings 6:22

22 Next he overlaid the whole house with gold, in order that the whole house might be perfect; even the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

1 Kings 6:22 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 6:22

And the whole house he overlaid with gold
Both the holy place, and the most holy place:

until he had finished all the house;
in this splendid and glorious manner:

also the whole altar that [was] by the oracle;
the altar of incense, which stood just before the entrance into the oracle, or most holy place:

he overlaid with gold;
he overlaid it all over with gold; hence it is called the golden altar, and was an emblem of the excellent and effectual mediation and intercession of Christ, ( Revelation 8:3 Revelation 8:4 ) . Agreeably to this account Eupolemus, an Heathen writer ^F4 testifies, that the whole house, from the floor to the tool, was covered with gold, as well as with cedar and cypress wood, that the stonework might not appear; and so the capitol at Rome, perhaps in imitation of this temple, its roofs and tiles were glided with gold ^F5; a magnificent temple, like this, was at Upsal in Switzerland, as Olaus Magnus relates ^F6.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 34. p. 450.
F5 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3. Vid. Rycquium de Capitol. Roman. c. 16.
F6 De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 3. c. 5.

1 Kings 6:22 In-Context

20 The interior of the inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high; he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.

21 Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, then he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.

22 Next he overlaid the whole house with gold, in order that the whole house might be perfect; even the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high.

24 Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.