The Ark Brought In, and the Glory
1 Thus all the work that Solomon did for Yahweh’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver, the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of God’s house. 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of David’s city, which is Zion. 3 So all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4 All the elders of Israel came. The Levites took up the ark. 5 They brought up the ark, the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent. The Levitical priests brought these up. 6 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled to him were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 7 The priests brought in the ark of Yahweh’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above. 9 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen outside; and it is there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. 11 When the priests had come out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions; 12 also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets); 13 when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever!” then the house was filled with a cloud, even Yahweh’s house, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled God’s house.
The two halves of Israel's worship are joined at last, and the cloud arrives at the moment the singers and trumpeters become one sound.
The work is finished, and the first thing Solomon does with the finished house is fill its treasuries with his father's dedications 2 Chronicles 5:1. What David gathered goes in before anything else.
Then the ark is fetched from the city of David, and the Tent of Meeting with it 2 Chronicles 5:5. That second clause ends a division that had stood for a generation. The ark had been in one place and the tabernacle in another, with lawful ministry at both 1 Chronicles 16:37–40. Both now come into one building, and Israel has a single sanctuary again.
The carrying is done by Levites, as the law required and as David had learned the hard way 1 Chronicles 15:13. The writer notes it in half a verse and does not moralize.
Two details about the ark itself are recorded once it is in place. The poles are long enough that their ends can be seen from directly in front of the inner room, though not from outside it 2 Chronicles 5:9. And the ark is empty except for the two stone tablets Moses put there 2 Chronicles 5:10.
That second note is the more striking. At the center of the most expensive room in the country, under the wings of carved cherubim, there is a box containing two slabs of rock with writing on them. The gold is all around it. What it holds is the covenant text.
The dedication then turns on a single moment, and the sentence describing it is built to make the reader wait. The priests come out; the singers are named and arrayed; a hundred and twenty priests stand with trumpets; and then when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh, and the words are given — for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever — the house fills with cloud 2 Chronicles 5:13.
The timing is stated, not implied. The glory arrives at the point where many voices and instruments become one sound. Unison is what the verse specifies, and the content of the unison is thanksgiving.
And the immediate effect is that the ministry stops. The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud 2 Chronicles 5:14. The house built for a schedule of daily service opens by making that service temporarily impossible.
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