by Tony Badillo
Importance of tabnit, the ‘plan’
The key to the Temple’s secrets is in the floor plan and layout of its furnishings. The “plan” or “pattern” (Heb., tabnit) of its structure and furniture is mentioned I Chronicles 28:11, 12, 19. Tabnit is also translated as design, structure, figure, form, likeness, and shape. Thus, in Deuteronomy 4:16-18 the Israelites are forbidden making any likeness, form, or figure of a human or beast for worship. In Ezekiel 8:10 the prophet sees repulsive forms or figures of creeping beasts, but in 8:3 he is lifted up by the form or figure of God’s hand or an angel’s (see also 10:8); and in Psalms 144:12 sons and daughters are compared to choice cut stones giving shape or form to a palace (see the Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).Tabnit generally refers to the form of something. King David received Divine inspiration for the form, i.e., plan or pattern of the Temple; and before him at Sinai Moses heard God’s verbal instructions for the form of the Mishkan (tabernacle). Tabnit is also related to banah, which means to build a structure or house –– or to raise children, since a “house” may also refer to a family. Thus, in Ruth 4:11 Rachel and Leah, the two wives of Jacob (later renamed Israel), are called the “builders” of the House of Israel. This is tabnit’s link to buildings, ordinary houses, human beings, and the human body temple, as shown below.
3. THE ARK of the COVENANT – This is a gold plated chest with a solid gold cover and two small cherubs (small stars).The Ark is his nose; and its poles –when attached to its long sides and drawn forward (I Kings. 8:8) – depict extended nostrils smelling the sweet smoke from the Incense Altar in the Holy Place.
4. STAIRWAY – A short staircase or ramp led from the Holy Place to a slightly elevated (six cubits) Holy of Holies.The stairway is his neck/throat and its top is his mouth. See First Temple vs. Second Temple.
5. INCENSE ALTAR – This small gold plated altar (I Kings 6:22) is national Israel’s heart, and its sweet-smelling smoke is the prayers and spiritual life of national ideal Israel, i.e., Israel as she should be.
6. TABLES OF THE SHOWBREAD – On these gold plated tables (I Kings 7:48) were bread and wine, symbolizing flesh and blood, i.e., the humanity of national Israel.
7. THE LAMP STANDS (I Kings 7:48, 49) – Their total number was 10 stands/msenorahs x 7 stems each = 70 lights, relating to the 70 Israelites of Exodus 1:5 (Jacob’s offspring). This is national Israel as the light to the world, and the world is the 70 nations of Genesis 10. They may also symbolize Shabbat (the Sabbath) multiplied 10 times, implying a messianic age of worldwide rest (meaning peace). For a larger view of them see Secrets of the Holy Place.
8. THE PORCH, Portico or vestibule – This antechamber, the ulam, (I Kings 6:3, II Chronicles 3:4) corresponds to the human pelvis (hips) and, therefore, procreation through the male and female genitalia.
10. TEN LAVERS – Five bronze water lavers were on the north and five on the south side, by the Porch. These signify the ten fingers of the hands. The lavers were for washing the blood off the sacrificial offerings, I Kings 7:38; II Chronicles 4:6.
11. JACHIN, BOAZ – The large bronze pillars by the Porch were named Jachin and Boaz (II Chronicles.3:17) and form Temple Man’s legs. These are two hybrid plants symbolizing Kings David and Solomon, war and peace.
12. SEA OF BRONZE, TWELVE BULLS – This was a huge basin full of water for the priests to wash their hands and feet (II Chronicles 4:2). It depicts the twelve tribes of Israel crossing the Red Sea. Its water symbolizes the God’s spirit and also his seed.13. THE SACRIFICIAL ALTAR – This (II Chronicles. 4:1) forms Temple Man’s feet, while also symbolizing the metallic King Messiah’s feet and footstool, as was the custom of that time, II Chronicles 9:18, Psalms 110:1.
The High Priest’s Garments: White and Gold
Jacob’s Dream and the Temple
Jewish tradition tells us that Jacob (father of the twelve Israelite tribes) saw the Temple in advance in his dream at Luz. After seeing angels ascending and descending on a stairway (‘ladder’), he says in Genesis 28:17, 'This is none other than God’s house ...,” and in v. 19 renames the place Bethel, House of God, which is also a designation for the Temple. Later he changes it again to El Bethel (God house of God) 35:7; and God, in turn, renames him Israel, 35:10. As shown below, Jacob's raised head corresponds to an elevated Holy of Holies and his ‘pillow stone’ (28:11) to the Even Shetiyah or 'Foundation Stone' where Abraham had earlier bound Isaac (22:9 -11). In other words, as he slept – unbeknownst to him – his head and body became a model for the Temple that was eventually built atop Mount Moriah by King Solomon (2 Chronicles 3:1). Today this site is called Haram al-Sharif by the Arabs, and the Temple Mount by the Israelis and others.
Why was Jacob given the dream at this time? Not solely because he was fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau, but also because he was on his way to Mesopotamia to find a wife and create a family, i.e., a “house”. Isaac practically ordered him to leave and start his own family (Genesis. 28: 1, 2), that he might multiply and become an “company of peoples,” v. 3; and later it is said his two wives are the “builders” of the House of Israel, Ruth. 4:11. Jacob, therefore, constructed a human temple, a house of twelve tribes (plus the Levites) and centuries later these twelve, with hired Phoenician craftsmen, raised Solomon’s stone temple, the ‘House of God’. Therefore, the dream concerns the building of two houses, Israel’s (Jacob’s) and God’s.
The Amazing Metallic Messiah
The illustration below at right shows how the metals of the Temple’s interior reveal the Metallic Messiah. But how do we know the interior metals have this secondary meaning?
Because their type and order parallel those of King Nebuchadnezzar’s metal statue below, which itself symbolizes an unholy, secular messianic world ruler.
For the interior gold plating of the Temple’s Holy of Holies, Holy Place and Porch, see I Kgs. 6:20 - 22 and II Chr. 3:4 -10. For the bronze furniture outside see I Kgs. 7:15 - 27, 38 and II Chr. 4:1 -7.This gives the Metallic Messiah a head, torso and pelvis of gold, but hands, legs and feet of bronze. His silver shoulders and arms relate to the silver plated walls ‘houses’ or ‘buildings’ (i.e., priestly cells) of I Chr. 29:4.
However, we remove the western cells – also silver plated inside – that form the turban (as shown at right) because we are viewing a nude man who is the counterpart of another nude man, Nebuchadnezzar’s metallic statue, below. Thus, we compare one nude figure with another, not a clothed one with a nude one. Also excluded is the Sea of Bronze because it is not part of the natural human anatomy.Nebuchadnezzar’s Metal Statue - The account of the huge metal statue that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon saw in a dream is found in chapter 2:1 - 35 of the Book of Daniel, but our focus is primarily on vv. 31 - 33.
This statue of four metals, v. 31, has a head of gold, arms and chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, v. 32, legs of iron, v. 33, and feet of iron fused with baked clay, v. 33. The clay counts as one with the iron so that he is made of fourmetals. However, Temple Man, i.e. the Metallic Messiah, consists of only three metals: gold, silver, and bronze (or copper). These same three were also in the tabernacle of Moses’ time, Exodus 25:3, 31:4; 35:5.
The four metals of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue depict four successive world empires, symbolizing Man’s ungodly earthly rule until the Last Days, Daniel 2: 34, 35. And just as Man’s rule is summed in one man of various metals, so too God’s forthcoming reign is portrayed by a single Metallic Messiah of three metals. See also Solomon’s Cyborg Messiah.
‘Messiah’ is a transliteration of mashiach, which means the anointed or anointed one. Jewish kings were anointed by having olive oil – symbolizing illumination – poured on their heads so that they might know how to rule their nation. Solomon himself was anointed in this manner, I Kings 1:39, and had prayed for an “understanding mind” to know how to rule, 3:9, and it was granted him, 3:12. Jewish kings were seen as sitting on the Divine throne and ruling on God’s behalf according to I Chronicles 29:23: ‘Then Solomon sat on the throne of Yahweh ... ,’ and also 28:5 where King David says that God ‘has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh,’ and that kingdom was national Israel. But King Messiah – the Metallic Messiah – is or will be anointed with the Divine spirit that he may know how to rule the entire world, not national Israel only.
.No Proof of Silver Walls?
Concerning the information directly above, someone wrote to another website claiming there was no proof that Solomon overlaid any walls with silver, totally ignoring I Chronicles 29:4. Yet all the bible translations I’ve consulted, both Jewish and non-Jewish, include this verse with its silver walls. Let us ask and answer, therefore: Is it likely that the “houses” (i.e., cells) in v. 29:4 above were silver plated? Yes, and here is why.A potent indicator of their existence is that they follow the pattern (Heb., tabnit) of the silver sockets of Moses’ tabernacle, which was constructed at the foot of Mount Sinai centuries before King Solomon’s time.
Keep in mind that everything about the Tabernacle (Fig. A) was portable, including its foundation. So what, then, was the Tabernacle’s ‘foundation’? One hundred (100) sockets (i.e., bases) of silver; and these were placed on only three sides: On the south, 40 sockets, Exodus 36:23, 24, and on the north another 40, vv. 25, 26; but on the west side, v. 27, the short side of the rectangular foundation, only 16 sockets were needed. This totals 96 silver sockets. What about the other four? Ah! now it gets more interesting. They were placed between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, v. 36. For what purpose? To sustain the poles for the paroket, the ‘veil,’ a very special Dividing Curtain separating the two holy rooms. A description of the curtain is given in Exodus 36:35. Hence, the total number of silver sockets was 100, one socket from each talent of donated silver, (38:27). To complete the rectangular foundation, another five sockets were placed on the eastern side, the entrance, but these were of bronze or copper (36:38), not silver, as shown above (Fig. A).
The Temple had 90 or 993 priestly cells; the Tabernacle had none. But the number of cells or and sockets is not vital. What matters is their arrangement or pattern and that such a pattern is reproduced in the layout of the Temple’s priestly cells (‘houses’) with silver plated walls, I Chronicles 29:4. This also implies that the Tabernacle’s gold plated wooden frame (above at right), Exodus 26:29, relates to the Temple’s gold plated walls. The Tabernacle and Temple had similarities, and the correlation of the silver sockets and silver cells is one of them. The Temple’s foundation was of limestone blocks, not silver.
Finally, I have shown that the Temple wasalso in the hidden form of the Levite High Priest; and by law all priests were of the tribe of Levi. In Malachi 3:3 the Lord rebukes the priesthood saying that he ‘will purify the sons of Levi (of corruption) and refine them as gold and silver’. Since the central portion of the Temple’s interior was gold plated, it is perfectly fitting that its cell walls should be silver plated, symbolizing the priests themselves becoming as ‘gold and silver’ by attaining inward attributes of holiness after being purged of moral corruption.
1 Mitsnepheth (Heb.), the headgear of the High Priest, is often translated as miter, but a more fitting word is turban.Mitsnepheth (from the root sanip) may refer to something that fits around the head, such as a crown or tiara, but also to something that is wound around it, such as bandage or turban ( see First Kings 20:32 in the Tanakh by JPS or the NIV). The common priests wore a migbaah, usually translated as bonnet or cap,from the root term gibaah, meaning a hill or small hill , either of which resembles an inverted bowl. See Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, etc.
2 This room, a cube of 20 cubits, was the counterpart of the “Holy of Holies”(Heb.kodesh kodashim) of the Mosaic Tabernacle, but the Book of First Kings calls it debir, instead,from the Hebrew root dbr, meaning to speak, according to various Hebrew language references, and which is commonly translated as Shrine, Most Holy Place, Oracle, etc. Debir is a fitting name because from here Temple Man speaks, thus providing further confirmation that this room symbolizes the head, which includes the throat and mouth ( the stairway is the neck-throat, and the mouth is the top of the stairway). Oracle is the closest English equivalent to debir because it may refer to the response of a deity, the place where the deity speaks, or to a prophet or priest who speaks for the deity. And it also implies that Temple Man may symbolize a prophet, or possibly even God himself.
3 Based on Ezekiel 41:6, Jewish bibles prefer 99 cells (3 floors x33 cells each), most others 90 cells (3x30). Apparently the Hebrew text allows either view. It seems, though, that the 100 silver sockets of the Tabernacle symbolize Abraham’s age at Isaac birth, while the Temple’s 90 silver-clad cells symbolize Sarah’s age at that same event (Genesis 17:17, 21:5). Both Tabernacle and Temple were constructed centuries after Abraham and Sarah.
Notice: Verse citations used on this website are from the World English Bible online or some other public domain work. All artwork used on this site and originally created by Tony Badillo is copyrighted, as is public domain artwork from others that has been radically altered. And finally, all explanatory text originally written by Tony Badillo is also copyrighted. Please do not copy.