2 Chronicles 3:1-7. A description of the Temple as Solomon is building it. He begins in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. The measurements in cubits are given and a description of the beauty of the materials and workmanship. The inside is completely overlaid with pure gold, the nave is lined with cypress, precious stones and carved cherubim adorn its walls.

We are clearly meant to be impressed by the size, beauty, and grandeur of the temple. And it should be so grand - it is the house of the Lord! It is difficult for us to understand the importance the Temple had to the Jewish people. God had always been with them - the God who chose them from all the people of the earth, the God who rescued them from slavery in Egypt, led them to the promised land and delivered it to them, that God, the God. He would descend in a cloud at the Tent of Meeting as they wandered in the desert; he would lead them into battle with the ark of the covenant; he promised to never abandon them. But never had God had a permanent home with them. The fact that God told David to have his son Solomon build such a permanent home for him at last meant that the Jewish people were home, would remain home, and God would remain with them. Their wandering was over and God was ready to allow them to build a grand, beautiful, and permanent home for him in Israel.

Now, of course, we all know the history - the destruction of the Temple, the exile, the continuing persecution of the Jews and fighting over their homeland. All of that is explained later in the Bible. But now, in Solomon's time and for a very long time afterwards, until God's people turn so far from him so as not even to mourn when the Temple is destroyed, until then, God is here, with his people.

But even after the Temple is destroyed, God does not abandon his people, he always keeps his promises. Eventually, his Son comes and establishes the New Jerusalem, the new Temple - the Church. God is now always with his people in every church all over the world in the form of his Son's body and blood. And the Church, although it has gone through many trials and will go through many more, will survive until the end of time. The Church is the ship carrying God's people through the storms of time and ultimately to salvation. It is a beautiful and glorious thing!