The temple and temple worship
Herod’s temple represented the house of the Lord and was the center of Israelite worship as legislated in the Old Testament and enhanced by centuries of Jewish tradition.
[17] Temple worship consisted of a complex series of sacrifices and offerings that could only be offered at the temple. Additionally, the temple was the focal point of the Jewish festivals, including the three pilgrimage festivals that all Jews throughout the world were required to celebrate at the temple in Jerusalem.
The temple proper was situated near the middle of the inner courtyard, facing east, and surrounded by a wall. Jewish men and women could pass from the east through the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:2) to enter a square courtyard in front of the temple called the Court of the Women, where, Josephus records, “[we] who were ritually clean used to pass with our wives” (
Antiquities 15.418). Just inside this gate, chests were placed for the collection of monetary offerings where the widow offered her mite (Luke 21:1–4). Four large lampstands were erected in this court, each with four bowls, to light the temple—especially at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Men and women congregated in the Court of the Women to observe through the gate the priests offering the sacrifices at the altar and to receive the priestly benediction. Here Jewish men and women could participate in temple worship through prayer, fasting, and hymns. Proceeding to the west, Israelite men climbed fifteen curved stairs and entered into the narrow Court of the Israelites separated from the Court of the Priests by a line in the pavement. Standing in the Court of the Israelites, one could see the large stone altar 40 feet [12 meters] square and 15 feet [4.5 meters] high
[18] upon which the priests offered the sacrifices. A ramp led to the top of the altar that had horns at the four corners. The priests offered regular daily offerings at the temple on behalf of all Israel and also assisted in the many offerings brought by individuals to the temple. Under the law of Moses there were five major sacrifices (Leviticus 1–7). The burnt offering was the sacrifice of an animal that was completely burned on the altar—the smoke symbolized the offering ascending into heaven. In addition to the burnt offering, the sin offering and trespass offering were connected with the offering of blood for atonement from sin and ritual impurity (Leviticus 17:11). The meal offering was offered for thanksgiving. The peace offering represented a communal meal—divided into three portions: one given to the Lord, one given to the priests, and one taken home and eaten by the offerer. To the north of the altar was the Place of Slaughtering where the sacrificial animals were butchered and skinned. Between the altar and the temple was a large bronze laver providing water for washing. Each of the priests ritually washed their hands and feet before and after officiating at the temple (Exodus 30:20–21).
According to the Mishnah Herod’s temple was 100 cubits (172 feet/52.5 meters) long, wide, and high (
Middot 4.6), and was divided like Solomon’s temple into three rooms: the porch, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies.
[19] The gold-covered facade of the temple was imposing. On the east wall of the Holy Place, visible through the portal of the temple, was an elaborate gate to the Holy Place. Josephus says there were pillars on either side of the gate but does not specify how many. Early depictions on coins and in synagogues depict four columns with two on each side. Josephus further describes “a golden vine with grape-clusters hanging from it,” that was placed above the door and wound itself around the pillars (
Antiquities 15.395). This vine was decorated with the costly gifts brought to the temple and was described in the Mishnah: “A golden vine stood over the entrance to the sanctuary, trained over the posts; and whosoever gave a leaf, or a berry, or a cluster as a freewill-offering, he brought it and the priests hung it thereon” (
Middot 3.8). On the stairs leading up to the doors of the temple the priests would daily gather to recite the priestly benediction on the people (Numbers 6:23–27).
A large veil of several colors hung in front of the doors at the entrance to the Holy Place. Passing through the veil, one entered the Holy Place. The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies together comprised one large rectangular room completely covered with plates of gold separated only by the veil of the temple. In the Holy Place there were three furnishings: the table for the bread of the presence (shewbread), the seven-branched lampstand or menorah, and the incense altar. Each week the tribes of Israel offered twelve loaves of bread to the Lord on the table, and at the end of the week the priests ate them on the Sabbath. This symbolized a sacred meal shared by the offerer, the Lord, and the priest. The menorah is described as being shaped like a tree consisting of a central axis and three branches on each side, making seven branches in all. At the top of each branch was a cup filled with olive oil that functioned as a lamp. Because of its form, the menorah is often associated with the tree of life.
[20] The lamp was the only source of light in the temple. Each day the priests entered the Holy Place to light and trim the lamps and to light the incense. The golden altar of incense stood next to the veil of the temple. Incense was expensive and was thus seen as a sacrifice, and the sweet odor helped to counteract the smells of sacrifice at the temple. It also effectively created an otherworldly environment suggesting the presence of God. In the scriptures the burning of incense symbolized prayer (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8; 8:4). In the New Testament Zecharias was officiating at the incense altar, with a prayer in his heart, when Gabriel appeared to him to announce the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5–23).
Separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was another veil. The veil of the temple consisted of two curtains hung about 18 inches apart. The outer curtain was looped up on the south side, and the inner one on the north side provided a corridor for the high priest to walk through on the day that he entered the Holy of Holies so that no one else could see into the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was a square-shaped room 20 cubits (34.4 feet, 10.50 meters) in width and length with a height of 40 cubits (69 feet, 21 meters) (
Middot 4.7). The interior was covered with plates of beaten gold. In the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple the original focal point of the worship of Israel was the ark of the covenant covered by the mercy seat with two cherubim representing the throne of God and designating his presence. In the Second Temple the Holy of Holies was empty since the ark of the covenant and the cherubim had disappeared in the course of the destruction of Solomon’s temple in 586 BC.
[21] Rabbinic tradition identified a stone on the floor of the Holy of Holies, rising to a height of three-finger breadths, as the “foundation stone” (
eben shetiyyah)—the very stone with which the creation of the world began (Mishnah
Yoma 5:1). On the Day of Atonement in Old Testament times, the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat of the ark in order to make atonement. In Herod’s temple the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on this stone. The Mishnaic tractate Middot relates that in the upper story of the Holy of Holies were openings through which they could let down workmen in boxes to assist in the maintenance of this space (
Middot 4.5).