1 Kings 6:20

20. The oracle in the forepart That is, the holy of holies on the inside measured twenty cubits each way. לפני , here rendered in the forepart, may be taken as the construct state of פנימ , surface, faces; and rendered, As to the faces (that is, the inside surface) of the oracle, twenty cubits was the length, etc. The construction of the most holy place in the form of a perfect cube had doubtless its typical significance. It was an appropriate symbol of perfection. The solid cube, in whatever way it is set, is always upright, a perfect square on every side, and all sides and angles corresponding perfectly to each other. So this form of the inner sanctuary indicated that the Holy One of Israel dwelleth in perfection.

And so covered Better to leave out so, and the other words here supplied in the English version, and translate literally, covered the altar with cedar. The altar of incense for the tabernacle (see Exodus 30:1-10) was made of shittim wood, and overlaid with gold. This altar of Solomon was built, as is here stated, with cedar, and the cedar overlaid with plates of gold. 1 Kings 6:22. We must not understand that this altar was in the oracle, but, as appears in 1 Kings 6:22, by or at the oracle; that is, on the outside and just in front of it. So Moses was commanded to “put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony.” Exodus 30:6. “The altar of incense is mentioned in connexion with the holy of holies,” says Wordsworth, “because the incense which was burnt upon it was offered before the vail, and with a view to the Divine Presence enshrined in the holy of holies, and had a special relation to the ark in the oracle. On this altar incense was offered morning and evening, the type of continual prayer.”