Context No. 2976 of 4322 · 1 Kings

1 Kings 7:13-22: in context

13King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre. 14He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to work all works in bronze. He came to King Solomon and performed all his work. 15For he fashioned the two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them. 16He made two capitals of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17There were nets of checker work and wreaths of chain work for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars: seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. 18So he made the pillars; and there were two rows of pomegranates around the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and he did so for the other capital. 19The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits. 20There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around the other capital. 21He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple. He set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz. 22On the tops of the pillars was lily work. So the work of the pillars was finished.

For the bronze work of the temple, Solomon brings in Hiram of Tyre, the son of a widow of Naphtali, a craftsman filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill in bronze. Among his works are two great pillars for the temple porch, crowned with capitals of lily-work and rows of pomegranates. Solomon sets them at the entrance and names them: the right pillar Jachin, and the left pillar Boaz.

Two things stand out. Hiram was gifted for this work with wisdom and skill, a reminder that fine craft is itself a gift from God, and that building his house needed not only priests but artisans. And the two pillars carry meaning in their very names. Jachin means he establishes, and Boaz means in him is strength. Standing at the doorway, they preached to everyone who entered that the whole thing, the temple, the nation, the worshiper, was established and upheld not by human effort but by God. You passed between he establishes and in him is strength to come into God's presence.

Do I enter God's presence remembering that I am established and upheld by him, not by my own strength?

Sources

1 Kings 7:21: "He set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar and called its name Boaz."
Exodus 31:3: "I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding... and in all kinds of workmanship."
Psalm 127:1: "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."