A Visible Image of the Invisible
The Universe
God created the world so that the invisible would be known through the visible. So that man, by contemplating the visible creation, would come to know the invisible Creator:
“because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19-20)
The Temple
The visible earthly temple is an image of the invisible heavenly reality. The prophet is given the command to arrange the temple according to the pattern shown on the mountain:
“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. <...> And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:8-9,40)
The apostle points out that the temple was arranged after the image of the true sanctuary:
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true (Greek: ἀντίτυπα — “images, copies”), but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24)
“Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen” (Act. 7:44)
The Old Testament: in the Temple Only God and the Angels
The Invisible God
In the Old Testament temple, built at God’s command, in the most important place there stood only the ark (a chest) with the holy things, above whose lid, between the two cherubim, God revealed Himself and spoke:
“And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel” (Ex. 25:22)
The Holy Angels
The temple was filled everywhere with images of angels (cherubim)
Cherubim on the Lid of the Ark
“And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat” (Ex. 25:18-20)
Cherubim to the Left and Right of the Ark
“Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. <...> Then he set the cherubim inside the inner room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room” (1 Kin. 6:23,27)
Cherubim on the Veil
“And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it” (2 Chr. 3:14) (1 Macc. 1:22)
Cherubim on the Walls of the Temple
“Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers” (1 Kin. 6:29)
In detail about the arrangement of the temple: https://bibleox.com/ru/ru/w/иерусалимский-храм
The New Testament: in the Temple God, the Angels and the Souls of the Righteous
The Heavenly Reality Has Changed
God became incarnate, became visible, suffered, rose, ascended into heaven and visibly took His throne (Mark. 16:19; Eph. 1:20-21; Rev. 3:21).
Christ God
“So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark. 16:19)
“which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:20-21)
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21)
The Holy Angels
“Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne” (Rev. 8:3)
“And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands” (Rev. 15:6)
The Souls of the Holy Righteous
“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Rev. 6:9-11)
“Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. <...> They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:1,3-5)
Singing
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke. 2:13-14)
“Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. <...> They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders” (Rev. 14:1,3-5)
The Command to Measure the Heavenly Temple
“Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there’” (Rev. 11:1)
The Throne
“the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne” (Rev. 4:10)
“And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God” (Rev. 11:16)
The Altar
“Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne” (Rev. 8:3)
“Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:5)
“Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God” (Rev. 9:13)
The Seven-Branched Lampstand
“And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Rev. 4:5)
Censing
“Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. <...> Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:3,5)
Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd Century) on the Temple as an Image of the Heavenly Reality
The arrangement of the temple after the image of the heavenly reality is confirmed by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century). Irenaeus refers to the Revelation of John the Theologian, saying that it is fitting for earthly things to be images of the heavenly ones created by God:
As, therefore, He does not stand in need of these [services], yet does desire that we should render them for our own benefit, lest we be unfruitful; so did the Word give to the people that very precept as to the making of oblations, although He stood in no need of them, that they might learn to serve God: thus is it, therefore, also His will that we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without intermission.
The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards that place are our prayers and oblations directed); the temple likewise [is there], as John says in the Apocalypse, “And the temple of God was opened” (Rev. 11:19), the tabernacle also: “For, behold,” He says, “the tabernacle of God, in which He will dwell with men” (Rev. 21:3). Now the gifts, oblations, and all the sacrifices, did the people receive in a figure, as was shown to Moses in the mount, from one and the same God, whose name is now glorified in the Church among all nations. But it is congruous that those earthly things, indeed, which are spread all around us, should be types of the celestial, being [both], however, created by the same God. For in no other way could He assimilate an image of spiritual things [to suit our comprehension].
(Against Heresies, Book 4, ch. 18-19)
God Commanded That the Temple Be Revered
The temple is an image of the heavenly reality. God commanded that this image be revered:
“You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:30)
“You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD” (Lev. 26:2)
The New Testament temple is arranged after the image from the Revelation of John the Theologian.