The Temple Jesus Walked

Herod's platform was the largest sacred enclosure in the ancient world, about thirty-five acres of paving held up by retaining walls that still stand. The outer court asked nothing of anyone who walked into it. Jews and Gentiles, pilgrims and merchants, Roman visitors and children all shared this ground. The animal sellers and the money changers' tables Jesus overturned stood here, most likely under the Royal Stoa on the south side. It was the one place on the mount where a Gentile could stand and pray.

Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’ ? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Mark 11:17 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Jesus quoted Isaiah's promise of a house of prayer for all nations while He stood in the only court the nations were allowed to enter. The building kept them at the edge. His death brought them all the way in.

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Most pilgrims came in from the south. They climbed a broad stairway, passed through the Huldah Gates, and walked up sloping tunnels that came out in the outer court. Below the steps lay dozens of mikva'ot, the stepped pools where worshipers immersed before going up. Jesus likely climbed these stairs at twelve with Mary and Joseph. About twenty years later the crowds at Pentecost came the same way, and many think these pools are where three thousand people were baptized in a single day.

Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

Luke 2:46 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Every worshiper washed before going up, and every washing had worn off by the next visit. Hebrews speaks of hearts sprinkled clean and bodies “washed with pure water” through one offering, made once, that holds forever. The staircase was built for repetition. The new covenant was built for arrival.

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Josephus called the Royal Stoa more remarkable than any structure under the sun. It was a basilica of 162 columns in four rows, each so thick that three men with arms outstretched could barely reach around it, with a central nave twice as tall as the aisles. Pilgrims coming up from the Huldah Gates passed beneath it. The exchange of foreign coins for temple currency and the sale of doves and lambs most likely happened here, which makes it the probable scene of the overturned tables.

Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Matthew 21:12-13 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The trade served a real need, since a pilgrim from Alexandria still needed a lamb. The scandal was where it stood. The one court open to the nations had become a market, so the Gentiles' place of prayer was full of livestock and coin. When Jesus cleared it, He was making room for them.

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At the south-east corner the wall dropped well over a hundred feet into the Kidron Valley, and the roof of the Royal Stoa rose higher still. Josephus says anyone who looked down from it grew dizzy. This is the traditional site of the second temptation, where the devil quoted Psalm 91 and dared Jesus to jump. At the opposite corner a priest blew a trumpet each Friday at dusk to announce the Sabbath, and the stone marking “the place of trumpeting” was found in the rubble below in 1968.

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Matthew 4:5-6 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The devil quoted Scripture to the Son of God on the roof of His Father's house and dared Him to prove who He was. Jesus had nothing to prove. At the Jordan the Father had said, “This is My beloved Son.” Identity came first, and it held.

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A double row of columns ran the length of the eastern wall, roofed in cedar and facing the Mount of Olives. Josephus credits it to Solomon. Historians doubt it reaches back that far, though it was probably the oldest colonnade on the mount. Teachers and their listeners gathered here, out of the sun and away from the traffic. Jesus walked here at the Feast of Dedication. After Pentecost the believers met here, and Peter preached here after the lame man was healed.

And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.

Acts 5:12 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The church was born on these porches. It preached a finished sacrifice within sight of an altar that was still smoking, and within a generation the altar was gone while the message spread across the empire. The good news outlived the stones it was first preached among.

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The gate in the eastern wall looked across the Kidron to the Mount of Olives, and the priest who burned the red heifer on that hill could see the sanctuary's entrance through it. Coming down that slope, Jesus looked across at these buildings and wept over the city. Days later He sat there with four disciples, who asked when the stones He had just spoken of would fall. Forty years later Rome brought them down. On the street below the western wall, stones thrown from the top still lie where they landed.

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:1-2 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

He spoke these words as a mourner. The house had been a shadow of Him, and the shadow was about to pass. All it pictured, from God's presence to the way in, now stands in a Person who rose from the dead and lives forever.

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Herod named this fortress for his patron Mark Antony and set it on the rock at the north-west corner, with four towers and stairs leading straight down into the outer court. A Roman cohort lived here, and at the feasts soldiers stood on the colonnade roofs to watch the crowds. When a mob seized Paul in the temple, the commander ran down these stairs with his men and carried him up into the barracks. Some place Jesus' trial before Pilate here, though Herod's palace on the western hill is the stronger candidate.

Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Acts 21:31-32 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

In Jesus' day Rome kept the high priest's robes locked in this fortress and released them only for the feasts, so the empire held the keys to the Day of Atonement. Hebrews describes a High Priest who answers to no governor and serves in heaven itself, for us.

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A low stone lattice, about four and a half feet high, ran around the inner courts, with pillars carrying warnings in Greek and Latin. Two of the Greek stones have been found. They read, No foreigner may enter within the balustrade and enclosure around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death which follows. Rome let the temple authorities enforce it even against Roman citizens. When Paul was accused of bringing a Greek past this line, the crowd tried to kill him on the spot.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

Ephesians 2:13-14 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Paul likely had this fence in mind when he wrote of “the middle wall of separation.” He had nearly died at it. The cross broke that wall down, and the people once kept outside were made one body with the people inside.

See it in the 3D modelRead: Isaiah 59:2, the separation the cross ended →

Josephus describes one gate that outshone all the rest. The others were plated in silver and gold, while this one was solid Corinthian bronze, so heavy that twenty men were needed to close it. He places it on the east side of the inner courts, leading from the outer court into the Court of the Women. It's the likeliest site of the gate called Beautiful, where a man lame from birth was carried every day to beg. Some identify the Beautiful Gate with the Nicanor Gate on the far side of this court instead.

Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

Acts 3:6 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The man had been lame for more than forty years and was laid every day at the most beautiful door in the city. Peter had no silver or gold to give him, so he gave him the name of Jesus. The man went in with them, walking and leaping, through a gate he'd only ever begged beside.

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Despite its name, this was the main gathering court for all Israel, men and women alike. The name marks how far a woman could go. It was a square of more than two hundred feet, open to the sky, with a gallery for women along its walls and a roofless chamber in each corner. The thirteen trumpet-shaped treasury chests stood here, and here Jesus watched a widow give two small coins. At the Feast of Tabernacles, four great lampstands in this court lit the whole city.

So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

Mark 12:43-44 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Jesus sat opposite the treasury and honored the person the system valued least. The rich gave out of their abundance and she gave out of her poverty, and He called hers the larger gift. Grace counts by a different measure than the temple did, and it always has.

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Each corner of the Court of the Women held a roofless chamber. In the south-east the Nazirites cooked their offerings and cut their hair. In the north-east priests sorted wood for the altar, and in the south-west oil and wine were stored. In the north-west a person healed of leprosy immersed on the eighth day before bringing the offerings of cleansing. When Jesus sent ten lepers to show themselves to the priests, this room is where that road ended.

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

Luke 17:14 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

A priest could look at a body and confirm it was clean, but he couldn't heal anyone. Jesus sent the ten toward the priests before anything had changed, and they were cleansed on the way. The healing came from Him, and the priests' declaration confirmed what He had done.

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From the Court of the Women, fifteen curved steps rose to a great bronze gate given by an Alexandrian named Nicanor. An ossuary found on Mount Scopus in 1902 names his family and calls him the one “who made the doors.” The Levites sang on these steps, and the Mishnah links them to the fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134. Here a mother brought her offering after childbirth. Mary would have stood here with the infant Jesus and two doves on the day Simeon took Him in his arms.

Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

Luke 2:22 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The Songs of Ascents were sung on a climb. Every step brought a worshiper a little nearer, and every step had a condition. The gospel runs the other way. God came down, to a manger and then to a cross, and in Christ He has brought us near for good.

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A strip only eleven cubits deep ran the width of the court, divided from the priests' area by a low railing. It was as far as an Israelite man normally went. He stepped past the rail to lay his hands on his own offering, then watched from here as it was sacrificed a few yards away. Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went up to the temple to pray is easy to picture here, one man pressing as far forward as the law allowed and the other standing “afar off.”

And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’

Luke 18:13 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The man who went home justified was the one standing farthest from the altar. The Pharisee's prayer listed what he had done, and the tax collector's asked for mercy. In this court nearness was measured in steps. In Christ it's measured by His blood.

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On the south side of the inner court, built half inside the sacred area and half outside it, stood the hall of the great council. Seventy-one elders sat here in a semicircle with the high priest presiding. Priests were examined here for blemishes before they could serve, and the daily lots for the altar service were cast here. The Talmud remembers the council leaving this hall about forty years before the temple fell, close to the year of the cross, and Luke doesn't name the room where it met at dawn to try Jesus.

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying,

Luke 22:66 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Israel's highest court examined the Lamb and condemned Him. Pilate examined Him and found no fault. The Father answered on Sunday morning by raising Him, and everyone in Christ now stands in that answer, made “the righteousness of God in Him.”

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The altar was a square of unhewn stone about fifty feet across and fifteen feet high, with horns at its corners and a ramp on the south side. No iron tool touched its stones. Every morning and every evening a lamb was offered here for the nation, the tamid or continual offering, and the fire on top burned through the night. Blood was dashed on the corners and poured out at the base, where a channel carried it down to the Kidron.

And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 10:11-12 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Hebrews draws the contrast in two postures. Every priest stands, because his work keeps going. One Man sat down, because His was finished. The lamb at dawn meant another would be needed by evening. The Lamb of God offered Himself once and took His seat.

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Between the altar and the porch stood a great bronze basin. In Herod's day it was lowered into a cistern each night so its water stayed fit for use. A priest washed his hands and feet here before he climbed the altar ramp or entered the sanctuary, and the law said he did it “lest they die.” He washed this way every day he served, for the rest of his life.

for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die.

Exodus 30:19-20 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The laver met a real need with a daily answer. Hebrews takes up its language, “our bodies washed with pure water,” and sets it inside the new covenant, where Christ cleanses the conscience once and that washing holds.

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The temple building rose about a hundred cubits, roughly 160 feet, and its front was as wide as it was tall. The east face was plated with gold, so bright at sunrise that Josephus says people had to turn their eyes away. A golden vine with grape clusters as tall as a man hung over the entrance, and golden spikes on the roof kept birds off. The porch had no doors. Beyond it, the gold-covered doors of the Holy Place stood behind a vast embroidered curtain.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

John 2:19-21 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Forty-six years of building, and Jesus called His own body the temple. God had always meant to live among His people, and His dwelling was always going to be a Person. John says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and the word he uses means He pitched His tent. This building was the shadow. The Man standing in front of it was the house.

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Inside the Holy Place, on the south side, stood the seven-branched lampstand with its cups shaped like almond blossoms. Exodus called for one hammered from a single talent of pure gold. It was the room's only lamp, and the priests trimmed and filled it with pressed olive oil morning and evening so it burned continually. When Rome destroyed the city in AD 70, this lampstand was carried through the streets of Rome in Titus's triumph, and you can still see it carved on the Arch of Titus.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:12 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Jesus said “I am the light of the world” in the treasury court, near the great lamps lit for the Feast of Tabernacles. The menorah lit one room for a few priests. He lights the world. In Revelation 1 He stands among seven lampstands that are His churches, and the light now burns in His people.

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On the north side of the Holy Place stood a gold-covered table with twelve loaves set in two rows, one for each tribe. It was called the bread of the Presence, literally the bread of the Face, because it sat continually before God. Every Sabbath the priests set out fresh loaves and ate the old ones in the holy place. The bread was Israel kept in God's sight, week after week, by covenant.

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6:35 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

Twelve loaves meant every tribe stayed before God's face whether it felt near or not. Jesus took the image and turned it toward us. He is the bread, and whoever comes to Him is satisfied. A loaf set out each Sabbath kept Israel's place. A Person who lives forever keeps yours.

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Nearest the veil stood a small gold altar, a cubit square and two cubits high, with horns at its corners. Twice a day a priest chosen by lot burned incense here while the people prayed in the courts outside. A priest might draw that lot once in his life, or not at all. Zacharias was standing alone in this room when an angel told him he would have a son named John.

And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Luke 1:10-11 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The smoke rose inside the room while the prayers rose outside it, with a priest standing between. Hebrews 7:25 describes a Priest who “always lives to make intercession” for those who come to God through Him. He's the One who opened the way in, so prayer now begins in His company.

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Behind the incense altar hung the veil that closed off the Most Holy Place. By Jesus' day it was a double curtain with a cubit of space between, woven like the great curtain at the entrance in blue, purple and scarlet on fine linen. Two were made every year, and the Mishnah records that it took three hundred priests to immerse a new one. One man passed through it, one day a year, and only with blood.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

Matthew 27:51 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

It tore from the top, out of every man's reach, so the tear began on God's side. Hebrews 10 says the veil was His flesh. When His body was torn, the way into the Holiest opened, and it has stayed open. Watch the veil tear to see what happened at three o'clock on a Friday afternoon.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,

Hebrews 10:19-20 · NKJV

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The Most Holy Place was a square room twenty cubits each way, lined with gold and without a lamp. In Solomon's day the Ark of the Covenant stood here between two gold cherubim. By the time of Jesus the room was empty. The Ark was gone by the time Babylon burned the first temple in 586 BC. A low outcrop of bedrock called the Foundation Stone marked where it had stood, and on the Day of Atonement the high priest set his censer there. Tacitus says that when Pompey forced his way in, in 63 BC, he found the shrine empty.

But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

Hebrews 9:7-8 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

For six centuries Israel's holiest room held no Ark and no mercy seat, and each year the high priest sprinkled blood toward a bare stone. Hebrews says Christ entered “heaven itself” with His own blood, once for all, into the presence the shadow had pointed to. Show the Ark to see what this room once held.

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The Ark was a chest two and a half cubits long, overlaid with gold inside and out. Its lid of solid gold was called the mercy seat, and two gold cherubim spread their wings over it. Hebrews says the tablets of the covenant, a gold jar of manna and Aaron's rod lay inside, though by Solomon's day only the tablets remained (1 Kings 8:9). Once a year the high priest sprinkled blood on the lid, over the law Israel had broken. The Greek Old Testament calls that lid the hilasterion, and Paul uses the same word for Jesus in Romans 3:25.

which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

Hebrews 9:4 · NKJV

Shadow and substance

The law lay inside the box, and Israel had broken it. The blood went on top. God promised to meet His people there, above the mercy seat, with the blood between them and the broken law. Paul says God “set forth” Jesus as that meeting place. Open the Ark to see what He covers.

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