The temple and the tabernacle were both used by God as His dwelling place on earth. His dwelling place was first the tabernacle, which was movable and temporary, and then the temple, which was fixed and permanent.
The tabernacle was the predecessor of the temple as the dwelling place of God on earth, and the temple was the consummate building of the tabernacle. The tabernacle and the temple were the same in use, and they have the same significance in typology.
The movable and temporary tabernacle followed the children of Israel into the good land and was placed in Shiloh (Josh. 18:1). Later it was moved to Nob (1 Sam. 21:1; cf. Mark 2:26) and then to Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:39; 21:29). During David’s reign, he sensed God’s heart for His kingdom and His house. Hence, David established a kingdom on earth according to God’s desire. Moreover, when he realized that the Ark of God needed a fixed and permanent dwelling place, he desired to build a temple for God to replace the movable and temporary tabernacle.
The entire life of David was a suffering. He was born as the youngest among his brothers, and as a young boy he was assigned to tend the sheep (1 Sam. 16:11); thus, he was trained by God in humility. Although he was anointed by Samuel with oil and defeated Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, by trusting in God, he was envied and persecuted by King Saul, who was determined to kill him. He fled to different places to escape Saul’s pursuit. He suffered many afflictions and was nearly driven from the good land so that he would not have any share in Jehovah’s inheritance.
After David ascended to the throne to be the king of God’s kingdom on the earth, he continually fought for the kingdom of God to conquer the enemies in the surrounding regions and to capture the land usurped by them. In this, David typified the aspect of Christ’s suffering and fighting for God.
God’s intention was for the children of Israel to take the good land and build the temple in the place where He had chosen to set up His name. However, God had no way to build the temple because the enemies still occupied the land and were not yet completely subdued. Hence, God raised up David to defeat the enemies and take the land. Furthermore, David bought the threshing floor of Ornan, the threshing floor of Araunah, from Ornan the Jebusite as the site for the building of the temple (1 Chron. 21:22-25; 2 Sam. 24:20-24).
After he obtained the site for the building of the temple, David received from God the pattern needed for the building of the temple (1 Chron. 28:11-19), just as Moses received from God the revelation of the pattern on the mountain concerning the tabernacle. Before his death, David instructed Solomon, his son, concerning this pattern. Thus, according to the pattern shown to his father David, Solomon built the temple, which was according to God’s desire for His dwelling.
Throughout the days of his life, through all his difficulties and according to his power, David prepared the materials necessary for the building of the temple. Because he set his affection on the house of God, he gave his private treasure of gold and silver over and above all that he had prepared for the building of the holy house. Then David called the leaders of the fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and they all offered willingly and prepared all the materials needed for the building of the house (29:2-9).
Although David desired to build the holy temple for God and also prepared all the materials for the building, God did not want David to build the temple for Him directly because he was a man of war and had shed the blood of many. God wanted Solomon, David’s son, to build the house for Him to be His dwelling place on the earth (28:3-6), because the building of the holy temple of God should be carried out in peace through a person of peace, not in war through a person of bloodshed.