Section III: Holy Places, § 21.
SECTION III: HOLY PLACES
§ 21. The furnishings of the temple built by Solomon are almost the same, except his temple was more highly and ornately decorated than the tabernacle, not only with columns and the sea of cast metal but also with different sculptures and pictures. (See 1 Kings 6–7; 2 Chronicles 4.)
Therefore we shall move on to the third class of ceremonial laws, which deals with holy places. By this expression we mean the tabernacle with all its parts, which was later followed by the temple Solomon built. The tabernacle (which in Exod. 33:7 is called “the tabernacle of meeting” because the people would crowd around it to hear the Word and to offer sacrifices) was divided into three parts. The first was called the Holy of Holies or the inner house, which was the innermost part of the tabernacle or the most venerable sanctuary—20 cubits long and wide and 120 high. The priest would enter it once a year. The second part was the Holy Place—40 cubits long, 20 wide, and 120 high. The third part was the courtyard, the place for the people, where they would gather for the prayers and sacrifices.
The tabernacle had four coverings: (1) silk curtains which covered it on the inside and decorated it, especially with pictures of colorful cherubim; (2) curtains of goats’ hair; (3) tanned skins of rams; (4) goats’ hair curtains which do not allow rain to pass through so that not only the interior would be decorated skillfully, but also the exterior would be protected against storm damage. These denote the church’s protection, her splendor, the union of her members, etc. Each of the three parts of the tabernacle was divided by a veil of blue and purple, made of twice-dyed scarlet and with twisted linen. Its sides were joined with cedar poles. (For a description of this, see Exodus 26–27.)
** Augustine (De civ. Dei, bk. 15, ch. 20): “Because the number ten represents the Law, the number eleven, which goes beyond ten, signifies the transgression of the Law—and by this, sin. Hence in the tabernacle of the testimony, which was like a traveling temple during the wanderings of the people of God, God commanded eleven veils of goatskin to be made. For in the goatskin there is a remembrance of sin because the goats shall be on His left; in faith we prostrate ourselves on goatskin, saying in the words of the psalm: ’My sin is always before me’ [Ps. 51:3].” Moses took the tent and erected it beyond the camp, far from the camp, and called it 
(“the tent of gathering,” Exod. 33:7). The Targum calls it 
(“the tent of the house of doctrine”), and the Septuagint calls it σκηνὴ τoῦ μαρτυρίoυ (“the tent of the testimony”). Stephen refers to it thus in Acts 7[:44], as though 
[“gathering”] was the same as 
(“testimony”), having exchanged the roots 
and 
as to their meaning, just as Num. 9:15 says “the tent of the testimony” because the ark was there which was called 
(“the ark of the testimony”) because of the 
(“testimony”), that is, the Law, whose tablets had been deposited within it. **
The veils signified the hidden nature of the ceremonies of the Old Testament, the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, etc.
** The third part of the temple was called the courtyard of the Jews, the court [basilica, 2 Chron. 4:9], the worldly sanctuary [Heb. 9:1], and also the porch of Solomon, entered through fourteen ascending steps. In front of this courtyard was a fence or gate with seven signs containing this law written in Greek and Latin: “Every foreigner who crosses into the Holy Place will die.” In the atrium was: The bronze altar for the burnt offering, where the eternal fire was kept (Exod. 38:1; Lev. 6:12; 2 Chron. 4:1). Two bronze columns, remarkable in beauty, each eighteen cubits in height, which were called “Jachin” and “Boaz” (1 Kings 7:15; 2 Chron. 3:17). A bronze shell, a vessel of great capacity, filled with water (1 Kings 7:[38]; 2 Chron. 4:6). The cast sea, called “the edge” or “lip,” borne by twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:23; 2 Chron. 4:2; Exod. 30:17[–18]). The new gate (Jer. 26:10; 36:10). The halls, which were side houses where the priests who were going to enter the sanctuary would take off their secular garb and dress themselves in holy vestments; there they also would rest after performing the sacred rites and would consume the parts of the victims of the peace offerings (Jer. [26]:2 […]). The porch of Solomon (1 Kings 6:3; John 10:23). The fourth part was the courtyard of the Gentiles, which was also called the outer court, which could only be reached by stairs. It was exposed to the open sky, built with four gates, and closed in all around with porches, four stades in circumference. Here both Gentiles and unclean Jews could assemble. The treasury [gazophylacium] was in this area, called “Corban” (Mark 7:11), and the sundial of Ahaz (Isa. 38:8; 2 Kings 4:11). There were four gates according to the four quarters of the earth: north, south, east, and west ([1] Chron. 26:17). There were the towers for the trumpeters ([cf.] Num. [10]:1[–2]) and the throne of Solomon (2 Chron. 9:17; 1 Kings 10:18). **
The temple of Solomon.
The temple of Solomon was also built in much the same fashion. It, too, was divided into three sections, namely, the Holy of Holies or oracle, the priests’ court or inner courtyard, and the people’s court, which is also called the “porch” and the “court” [basilica] and is often meant by the word “temple” in the New Testament.
The difference between the tabernacle and the temple is that the tabernacle was portable, but the temple was fixed in one place. Both the tabernacle and the temple denote Christ Himself, who was pleased to take up our flesh and σκηνῶσαι [“dwell, tent”] among us (John 1:14); who calls His own body “the temple” (John 2:19), for “in Him the entire fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9), even as the glory of the Lord once filled the tabernacle and the temple (Exod. 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10). Secondarily and less importantly the tabernacle and the temple of Jerusalem denote the church militant and the church triumphant (Gal. 4:25[–26]), with whom God is present with grace and glory. Even as the tabernacle was portable, so the church in this world moves about. The temple of Solomon was fixed; so also the church triumphant is immutable. In building the temple neither the hammer nor the ax was heard; so in this life, the reborn are prepared through the Word and the cross as living stones to be carried into the heavenly Jerusalem. There was just one tabernacle, one temple; so on earth there is one true church, and only in it can worship acceptable to God be offered. In the tabernacle the divine oracles were given; so in the church God speaks with us through His Word.