Living Stones in the Holy Temple
by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.
“And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. . . . And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.” (1 Kings 5:17; 6:7)
The building of Solomon’s temple was one of the most remarkable construction operations in history. Much of the temple’s legendary beauty was attributed to the great stones—beautiful and costly stones, quarried from beds of white limestone—which were used in its construction.
Probably the most remarkable feature of its building was the fact that each stone was carefully cut and dimensioned while still in the quarry, so that the temple itself could be erected in silence, with each stone fitting perfectly in place as it came to the temple site. The temple, as the structure where God would meet with His people, was considered too sacred to permit the noise of construction during its erection.
In the New Testament, the physical temple is taken as a type of the mighty house of God being erected by the Holy Spirit. “[Ye] are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).
Each believer is like one of the beautiful temple stones, so costly that the price was the shed blood of Christ Himself. Taken out of the great pit of sin by the Holy Spirit, each person, one by one, is being placed quietly in the great spiritual temple. “Ye also, as lively [i.e., living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). HMM