The Pattern of the Temple

by David Sielaff, Director

The first Temple built by Solomon was constructed from plans given by God to David. When
God refused David permission to build the Temple (2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17), David
took the plans and gave them to his son and designated heir, Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:1–19).
Solomon constructed the Temple according to those plans. This article will discuss the details
of the plan.

Background

Dr. Martin wrote that the scene in Eden in the early chapters of Genesis shows that the Garden
within Eden was a sanctuary where God dwelt. 1 “God planted a garden eastward in
Eden” (Genesis 2:8). The structure of Eden and its environs were in the shape of the later Taberna-
cle and Temples.

In Genesis 6:13–16 we have the digest account of God giving Noah specifications for construction
of the Ark. There is no mention that a “pattern” or model was given to Noah, although the measure-
ments of length, breadth and height were precise.

Moses was also given instructions for the tent structure that God wanted built — the Tabernacle.
When Moses was up in Mount Sinai God showed him the “pattern” of the Tabernacle and all the
instruments that were to be used within it (Exodus chapters 24–31). He was instructed to make the
Tabernacle and the instruments exactly as God showed him.

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that
they bring me an offering: of every man that gives it willingly with his heart you
shall take my offering. ...

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to
all that I
show you, after the pattern [tabniyth] of the tabernacle, and the pattern
[tabniyth] of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it.’”

• Exodus 25:1–2, 8–9

•
The Hebrew word for “pattern” in verse 9 is tabniyth. It is elsewhere translated in the King James
Version as likeness, form, similitude and figure. The term “pattern” fits and works for most all in-
stances. Another translation that could easily be used is “model” in some contexts because, as some
scholars believe, the root of tabniyth is the word banah, “to build.” Without doubt the meaning of
the word indicates something that has a likeness or a similarity to the final product or to an original
that can be represented in some way. The author of Hebrews clearly states that on Mt. Sinai Moses
saw a representation of the heavenly Tabernacle, 2

“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was ad-
monished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, ‘See,’ says he,
‘that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the
 mount.’”

• Hebrews 8:5
•
After describing all the instruments Moses should make for the Tabernacle, God concludes by say-
ing,

“And look that you make them after their pattern [tabniyth], which was showed
you in the mount.”

• Exodus 25:40
•
David’s Desire, and His Command to Solomon

David greatly desired and intended to build the Temple, but God prevented him from doing so be-
cause he was “a man of war, and has shed blood” (1 Chronicles 28:3). David therefore gathered
all the necessary materials together for the construction of the Temple.

When David was near death he had Solomon, prince and heir to the throne (chosen by God,
1 Chronicles 28:5 and 29:1), brought before him with the people of Israel attending. All were to be
told important information concerning the construction of the Temple that God would allow Solo-
mon to build.

“And you, Solomon my son, ... Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen you to
build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.”

• 1 Chronicles 28:9–10
•
The Pattern

David gave Solomon “the pattern” of the Temple. 3 This pattern was the design that David himself
intended to use to build the Temple. David made it clear that Solomon was to use the same pattern
that David wished to use. Although Solomon would perform the actual construction of the Temple,
it would be the design that David intended. I have set out the verse in an outline format for clarity.

“Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern [tabniyth]

of the porch, and

of the houses thereof, and
of the treasuries thereof, and
of the upper chambers thereof, and
of the inner parlors thereof, and
of the place of the mercy seat,

And the pattern [tabniyth] of all that he had by the spirit,

of the courts of the house of the Lord, and

of all the chambers round about,
of the treasuries of the house of God, and
of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
 Also [David gave to Solomon the pattern]

for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and

for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and
for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord.”

• 1 Chronicles 28:11–13
•
God even specified the weight in gold and silver for the various implements and tools used for the
future Temple service. All were part of “the pattern” as were “the courses of the priests and the
Levites” and even how they were to do the work. That is a great amount of detail.

“He gave of gold

● by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of

service;

silver also for all instruments of silver

● by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:

● Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps
of gold,
● by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof:

and for the candlesticks of silver

● by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps
thereof,

according to the use of every candlestick.

[Some instruments, candlesticks and lamps were made of gold; others were made of silver. All were
provided for by weight. The list continues,]

And by weight

● he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and
● likewise silver for the tables of silver:

Also pure gold

● for the fleshhooks,

● and the bowls, and
● the cups: and
● for the golden basins

he gave gold by weight for every basin; and

likewise silver by weight for every basin of silver: And
for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and
gold for the pattern [tabniyth] of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out
their wings, and
 covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.”

• 1 Chronicles 28:11–18
•
Note how David concluded this list of items. Remember that David spoke this not only to Solomon
but to all Israel assembled before him,

“‘All [this,’ said David], 4 ‘the Lord made me understand in writing by his
[God’s] hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern [tabniyth].’”

• 1 Chronicles 28:19
•
This is remarkable! David states precisely that God gave this information to him “by the
spirit” (verse 12) and “in writing by His hand … the works of this pattern” (verse 19). The in-
formation is apparently as detailed as were the instructions given to Moses for the Tabernacle.

Remember also that Moses received the tablets of stone that were “written with the finger of
God” (Exodus 24:12, 31:18, 32:15–16) after God spoke the words to the assembled tribes of Israel.
David, similar to Moses, received a “pattern” that was in God’s own handwriting. David concluded
his instructions and told the assembly about all the provisions he made according to the “pattern”
that God showed him. Then David asked the people to participate by giving their treasure for God’s
Temple and they responded generously (1 Chronicles 29:1–19).

Other Examples of “Pattern”

There are other occurrences of tabniyth in the Old Testament; some have to do with idols and how
neighboring peoples constructed them,

“Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of
any figure, the likeness [tabniyth] of male or female, the likeness [tabniyth] of any
beast that is on the earth, the likeness [tabniyth] of any winged fowl that fly in
the air, the likeness [tabniyth] of any thing that creeps on the ground, the like-
ness [tabniyth] of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:”

• Deuteronomy 4:16-–18
•
I must mention again that this “likeness” of tabniyth is a different Hebrew word than is used in
Genesis 1:26–27 talking about man’s creation being in God’s “likeness” (Hebrew, demuth). For
some reason patterns of altars was important to ancient peoples. Note these two passages,

“Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our gen-
erations in time to come, that we may say again, ‘Behold the pattern [tabniyth]
of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for
sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.’”

• Joshua 22:28
•
“And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw
an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of
the altar, and the pattern [tabniyth] of it, according to all the workmanship
thereof.”
 • 2 Kings 16:10
•
“They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they
changed their glory into the similitude

[tabniyth] of an ox that eats grass.”

• Psalm 106:20
•
In a discussion about the absurdity of idol worship, Isaiah and Ezekiel continue the same theme,

“The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fits it with
planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure
[tabniyth] of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the
house.”

• Isaiah 44:13
•
“And he said unto me, ‘Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do
here.’ So I went in and saw; and behold every form

[tabniyth] of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the
house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.”

• Ezekiel 8:10
•
The other verses containing the word tabniyth also give the sense of pattern or model.

The Carving

The image below is a bas-relief carving of a figure in the “Stones of Aram” Exhibit Room #13 at
the Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.

6
It is a bit less than 1½ feet tall and about 8 inches wide. The image presented here was extracted
from the website of the Bible Lands Museum, www.BLMJ.org (an excellent museum website by
the way). Note the inscription of this artifact,
 BLMJ 1062
Relief of a man holding a model of
a Temple(?)
Basalt, Arslan Tash
(Ancient Hadatu)
Syria 800–750 B.C.E.

A man holding a model of a temple — similar perhaps to the “pattern” that Moses was shown and
that King David gave to Solomon. The figure has a beard and braided hair and he is a Syrian. There
is no way to tell if the figure is a god or a man. It is not important whether the person depicted is a
god or a human. It is not important whether the model is a temple, a house or a palace. What is im-
portant is that this carving depicts a model of a building in ancient times,

7
a fitting usage of tabniyth to describe a model.

The timeframe of the artifact’s making is some 150–200 years after King David’s time, although
such dating is problematical and often speculative. It cannot be known if the model depicted was
made out of wood or stone, or whether the model represents a temple or a palace. It is clear that the
model was important enough to be built, presented and held up to someone as represented in the
bas-relief carving. And finally, the relief shows that it was a sufficiently important event to carve a
memorial in stone of the model and its presentation.

We cannot know the kind of pattern that David received from God. It may have been a set of blue-
print-like drawings on parchment. The “pattern” may have been detailed descriptions (like those
were given to Moses) from a visualization of a three dimensional object. We cannot know for sure
and we do not need to know. We can know for certain that the pattern David received from God was

“by the spirit” (verse 12) and “in writing by His hand … the works of this pat-
tern” (1 Chronicles 28:19). David passed that “pattern” on to Solomon, commanding him to build
the structure as given by God (compare 1 Chronicles 29:1 with v. 19).

In either case a physical model may have been sculpted or molded or made out of wood. David may
have constructed a three dimensional model like the one represented in the bas-relief sculpture. In
fact archeologists have discovered many such models of buildings used for ritual purposes from the
9th or 8th centuries B.C.E. and later.
 8

http://www.bu.edu/anep/Ir.html#Incense http://www.afnetinc.com/users/walrusss/graphics/
bible11.jpg

The item on the left is an incense burner from Iron Age I.

9
The item on the right is a model of a temple, also likely for incense, with figures. These items are
quite small and can be held in one hand, smaller than the bas relief in the Bible Lands Museum. 10

The details of “The Pattern of the Temple” were used for the construction of the Temple,

“Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount
Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David
had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ... Now these are the
things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. ...”

• 2 Chronicles 3:1–3 (see also 1 Kings 7:38)

•
The measurement dimensions of the various structures of the Temple complex are detailed in 1
Kings 6:2–38 and 2 Chronicles 3:3–14. The accessories and other items for the Temple are dis-
cussed in 1 Kings 7:13–51 and 2 Chronicles 2:13–14, 3:15–5:1. All were made according to “The
Pattern of the Temple” that God provided God provided. God also provided the location of the
Temple. God chose Solomon to construct it. God provided the measurements and the weight speci-
fications. God provided peace so the Temple could be constructed. God provided, through David,
all the materials for the Temple. God even designated the format of services.

Just before His ascension into heaven Jesus told His disciples He was going to prepare a place for
them (John 14:2–3). He was speaking about preparations for you also. Know for certain that your
place in God’s Living Temple is being prepared with far greater care than any physical Tabernacle
and Temple. Read John 2:19–21; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 10:16, 12:12–27; Ephesians 3:6,
4:12 and Revelation 21:22.

David Sielaff, November 2003

1 See chapter 15, “The Garden of Eden, the Tower of Babel and the Temple of God” in The Tem-
ples That Jerusalem Forgot (Portland, OR: ASK, 2000), pp. 248–261.

2 See also the descriptions of the naos translated Temple in the KJV in the book of Revelation, par-
 ticularly Revelation 11:1–2.

3 “Pattern” is the same Hebrew word Moses used to describe what he saw on Mt. Sinai when he
received the Tabernacle details.

4 These words are not in the Hebrew, but they are implied.

5 Note the verses that give the same sense for tabniyth,

Psalm 144:12:

“That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as
corner stones, polished [Hebrew, “cut”] after the similitude [tabniyth] of a palace.”

Ezekiel 8:3:

“And he put forth the form [tabniyth] of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and
the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of
God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks toward the north; where was
the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.”

Ezekiel 10:8:

“And there appeared in the cherubims the form [tabniyth] of a man's hand under their
wings.

6 “Aram” is another name for Syria. A full 360 degree rotational view of the room this artifact
is displayed can be seen at the website of the Bible Lands Museum, Room 13. Go with the
viewer to the right and you will see this artifact. You can also zoom onto the image and get a
good view of the original. The webpage is: http://www.blmj.org/TheMuseu/virtour/gal13/
gal13.html.

7 Architects of every major construction project today have architectural models built before-
hand so that people can conceptualize a project or a building. It gives the viewer a sense of the
project.

8 The movie King David (1985) starring Richard Gere puts forth its understanding of these
verses in Chronicles of a “pattern.” The film depicts David eagerly examining a model of the
proposed Temple. When David receives word from God that he would not to be allowed to
build the Temple, David destroys the model. It is important to note that such a pattern or model
did actually exist. It is doubtful that David destroyed it because he commanded Solomon to
follow the “pattern” God gave him.

9 From Amihai Mazar’s, Excavations at Tell Qasile, Qedem 12, (Jerusalem, 1980), pp. 87–100.
When I dug at Tel Rehov during the summer of 2003 (the dig was supervised by archeologist
Amihai Mazar), the fellow next to me uncovered a clay incense burner with a different shape,
but just as detailed as the one shown. It too had the shape of a building, presumably a temple.

10 The model on the right with the figures looks much like a holiday crèche, does it not? Where
do you think such traditions come from? They come from paganism, of course.

“Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jeremiah 10:2).