2 Chronicles 5:11

A CLOUD SYMBOLIZING GOD'S GLORY FILLED THE TEMPLE

"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place (for all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their courses; also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets); and it came to pass, when the trumpeters and the singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah, saying, For he is good; for his lovingkindness endureth forever; that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Jehovah, so that priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Jehovah filled the house of God."

"The significance of the temple is made specific in the ceremonies that accompanied its dedication. They designated the Temple to be the lineal successor to Israel's previous sanctuaries."[2] The ark of the covenant and the tent of meeting were brought into the temple, and God recognized the temple as the place where his name was recorded and where a manifestation of his earthly presence would dwell.

In view of all the sins and rebellions of Israel, and of the sins and failures of David, and especially of Solomon, and in consideration of the basic truth that God never commanded the building of the temple in the first place .... in spite of all this, God remained firm and immovable in his promise to Abraham that, "in him and in his seed (singular) "(Genesis 12:3), all the families of mankind would be blessed. To fulfill that glorious promise to the patriarchs, it was impossible for God to reject Messiah had been delivered, no matter what misunderstandings or outright sins and rebellions marked the behavior of the Chosen People. We may state it bluntly that, God was stuck with Israel until He had achieved the Grand Objective, namely, that of bringing the Prince of Life into our lost and ruined race. This simple truth explains why God accepted the temple, honored it with his presence, and sent fire from heaven as another positive indication of his approval (2Chr.7:1-10).

"The cloud of God's glory that filled the temple (2 Chronicles 5:11-14), was called the [~shekinah]."[3]