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Five Houses, Side by Side

Every dwelling place of the LORD in one view — from the ark of preservation to the temple of Herod.

	Antediluvian Noah's Ark	Wilderness (c. 15th century BC by traditional dating) The Tabernacle	United Monarchy Solomon's Temple	Post-Exilic The Second Temple	Second Temple Period Herod's Temple
Era	Antediluvian	Wilderness (c. 15th century BC by traditional dating)	United Monarchy — completed c. 960 BC	Post-Exilic — dedicated 516 BC	Second Temple Period — expansion began 20 BC
Builder	Noah, by divine specification	Moses, through Bezalel and Aholiab	Solomon, using Hiram of Tyre's craftsmen	Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the returned remnant, under Cyrus's decree	Herod the Great, on the Second Temple foundation
Primary Dimensions	300 cubits · 50 cubits	100 × 50 cubits · 5 cubits	60 × 20 × 30 cubits · 20 × 10 cubits	60 cubits · 60 cubits	—
Materials	Gopher wood; Pitch, within and without	Acacia wood overlaid with gold; Bronze for the outer court	Cedar of Lebanon; Hewn limestone	Great stones; Timbers of Lebanon	White limestone ("the mountain of the house"); Gold plating on the facade
Ark present
Fate	The vessel came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat as the waters receded.	It served through the wilderness, the settlement, and the days of the judges.	It stood for nearly four hundred years.	It was profaned by Antiochus IV in 167 BC, rededicated by the Maccabees, and eventually enveloped and enlarged by Herod's rebuilding.	In AD 70, Roman legions under Titus burned and threw down the house.