What’s the best way to see the ancient temple of Israel? Go to Egypt.
If you go to Israel, you will not see the ancient temple. The only thing that remains is the Western Wall where Jews and others from around the world go to pray.
If you want to see the temple, you will need to go to Egypt. It is not exactly the same, but the structure of the temple is much closer than you might imagine. In addition, there are dozens of temples to visit. You can see great variation on the same themes.
To understand the temple, it might be helpful to read 1 Kings 6:14–28, which describes the temple of Old Testament Israel. There plan of the temple is simple. Room 1: The outer courts, where the people would gather. There, everything was made of bronze. There was a bronze altar and bronze wash basin. Room 2: the holy place. This is where the priests would go. There was the table with the bread on it, the menorah or candle, and the altar of incense. All there was made of gold. Rome 3: inside the holy place, there was the most holy place. Only the high priest could enter and that only once a year. In this most holy place or the holy of holies, there was a box, the ark of the covenant. This was the place where Jehovah’s presence would manifest itself.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the temples of Egypt.
Room 1: The Outer Courts
When you come to the temples of Egypt, you will find an outer court area. This is where the people would gather. This is similar to what you would have found in Israel, though only Jews who were ceremonially clean could enter there. Below are the outer courts at the temple at Edfu in Egypt.
In Egypt, every temple has this sort of structure. You can see this clearly in the Kom Ombo temple. You can see the outer courts in the foreground, and then you can see the holy place in the background.
Psalm 84:1 proclaims, “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!” One thing that you may miss in looking at these ancient structures is how beautiful they were. They were fully painted and decorated. It was not just brown, yellow, or gray stone. There would be a dazzling array of colors. Continue reading “What Do We Learn About the Bible from Visiting Egypt? Part 2: Seeing the Temple”