Temples of Old
Ever since the foundations of this world, Heavenly Father has given His children the means whereby to return to Him. This is through covenants and ordinances, which bind us to Heavenly Father and allow us access to His power. Adam and Eve, the first people on earth, entered into covenants with God. They were given coats of skins to remind them of these covenants 1 . As time progressed, Heavenly Father gave these same covenants, along with the symbolic coats of skins, to His children in His temples. In the Old Testament, we learn of the tabernacle that served as a portable temple during the children of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness for 40 years2.
The temple of Solomon was built after the model of the tabernacle, being exactly double in size. We read that David collected all the materials of the temple and had hired skilled workmen to execute the building of it. There are references to the temple in other scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 5:16 says “And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.”