1 Kings 6:5–6 tells us of the plan for a structure added to the exterior of the temple. If you are like me, you may have trouble visualizing the plan given in words to an image that conveys a coherent visual image in your mind. This situation is the result of the incapacity that some people have in converting very detailed verbal descriptions of visual data into mental pictures.
The description of this structure is of the side chambers of the temple, which Levites would use for storage purposes. This included vessels given in dedication to Yahweh, equipment necessary for the offering of the various sacrifices and offerings, and the garments of the priests necessary to carry out their duties.
These chambers would surround the temple itself and rise three stories above ground level. One matter that may seem strange to some readers is that the chambers become broader as they rise upward. The ground floor was five cubits wide, the next level up was six cubits, and the highest was seven cubits wide. Those who are familiar with Egyptian pyramids or the ziggurats of other ancient people will be familiar with structures that are broad at the base and narrow as they grow taller. This makes the description of the side chambers appear counter to what we normally think. The illustration provided may help you in seeing that the description of this arrangement is not physically impossible. In fact, it provides structural support helpful to the temple proper, which has walls rising to a height of fourteen meters with no intervening floors between the floor on the ground and the roof.
We observe that the top floor of the side chambers was seven cubits wide. In Hebrew numerology the number seven signifies completion or perfection. Yet, we have no guidance from Scripture to be able to suggest such a significance to this use of that number.
An observation that may lead to more fruitful conclusions is the direction forbidding the wooden beams that support the floors and ceilings of the side chambers to be physically incorporated into the wall of the temple itself. You may ask, Why such a prohibition? Would it provide even more structural support? Let us remember, however, that the side chambers did not play a direct part in the worship of the Lord. Moreover, that worship was done according to his commands to Moses in the giving of the Law. Worship, therefore both pointed to God, and God directed it. Rooms that would perform a commonplace function should not directly mix with the structure that contained both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, and holiness separates the sacred from the secular.
5 He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around.