35 Bible Verses about Architecture

The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, "See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain."

Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them. According to all that I am showing you -- the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings -- you must make it exactly so.

"The tabernacle itself you are to make with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; you are to make them with cherubim that are the work of an artistic designer. The length of each curtain is to be forty-two feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet -- the same size for each of the curtains. Five curtains are to be joined, one to another, and the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another.read more.
You are to make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and in the same way you are to make loops in the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. You are to make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you are to make fifty loops on the end curtain which is on the second set, so that the loops are opposite one to another. You are to make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle is a unit. "You are to make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you are to make eleven curtains. The length of each curtain is to be forty-five feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet -- the same size for the eleven curtains. You are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. You are to double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. You are to make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joins the second set. You are to make fifty bronze clasps and put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it is a unit. Now the part that remains of the curtains of the tent -- the half curtain that remains will hang over at the back of the tabernacle. The foot and a half on the one side and the foot and a half on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent will hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on one side and the other side, to cover it. "You are to make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather. "You are to make the frames for the tabernacle out of acacia wood as uprights. Each frame is to be fifteen feet long, and each frame is to be two feet three inches wide, with two projections per frame parallel one to another. You are to make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side, and you are to make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames -- two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections; and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, twenty frames, and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. And for the back of the tabernacle on the west you will make six frames. You are to make two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. At the two corners they must be doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So it will be for both. So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. "You are to make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the back of the tabernacle on the west. The middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end. You are to overlay the frames with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you are to overlay the bars with gold. You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain. "You are to make a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. You are to hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in four silver bases. You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side. "You are to make a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. You are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.

David gave to his son Solomon the blueprints for the temple porch, its buildings, its treasuries, its upper areas, its inner rooms, and the room for atonement. He gave him the blueprints of all he envisioned for the courts of the Lord's temple, all the surrounding rooms, the storehouses of God's temple, and the storehouses for the holy items.

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, during the month Ziv (the second month), he began building the Lord's temple. The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet wide, extending out from the front of the temple.read more.
He made framed windows for the temple. He built an extension all around the walls of the temple's main hall and holy place and constructed side rooms in it. The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet wide, the middle floor nine feet wide, and the third floor ten and a half feet wide. He made ledges on the temple's outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls. As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. The entrance to the bottom level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up to the middle floor and then on up to the third floor. He finished building the temple and covered it with rafters and boards made of cedar. He built an extension all around the temple; it was seven and a half feet high and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams.

David said, "All of this I put in writing as the Lord directed me and gave me insight regarding the details of the blueprints."

Solomon began building the Lord's temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began building on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign. Solomon laid the foundation for God's temple; its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet.read more.
The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its height was 30 feet. He plated the inside with pure gold. He paneled the main hall with boards made from evergreen trees and plated it with fine gold, decorated with palm trees and chains. He decorated the temple with precious stones; the gold he used came from Parvaim. He overlaid the temple's rafters, thresholds, walls and doors with gold; he carved decorative cherubim on the walls. He made the most holy place; its length was 30 feet, corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. He plated it with 600 talents of fine gold. The gold nails weighed 50 shekels; he also plated the upper areas with gold. In the most holy place he made two images of cherubim and plated them with gold. The combined wing span of the cherubs was 30 feet. One of the first cherub's wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched one wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the second cherub's wings. Likewise one of the second cherub's wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched the other wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the first cherub's wings. The combined wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood upright, facing inward. He made the curtain out of violet, purple, crimson, and white fabrics, and embroidered on it decorative cherubim. In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length of 52? feet, with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high. He made ornamental chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments and arranged them within the chains. He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and the other on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin, and the one on the left Boaz.

He made a bronze altar, 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet high. He also made the big bronze basin called "The Sea." It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet. Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every eighteen inches all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with "The Sea."read more.
"The Sea" stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. "The Sea" was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons. He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in "The Sea." He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made one hundred gold bowls. He made the courtyard of the priests and the large enclosure and its doors; he plated their doors with bronze. He put "The Sea" on the south side, in the southeast corner. Huram Abi made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God's temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. He made the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), the ten movable stands with their ten basins, the big bronze basin called "The Sea" with its twelve bulls underneath, and the pots, shovels, and meat forks. All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord's temple were made from polished bronze. The king had them cast in earthen foundries in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze. Solomon also made these items for God's temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence was kept, the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary, the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, the pure gold trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

just as Moses the Lord's servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool. They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace.

If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it of stones shaped with tools, for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it.

When King Ahaz went to meet with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw the altar there. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design. Uriah the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus.

If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail around your roof to avoid being culpable in the event someone should fall from it.

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on this very day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me there. By means of divine visions he brought me to the land of Israel and placed me on a very high mountain, and on it was a structure like a city, to the south. When he brought me there, I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring stick in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.read more.
The man said to me, "Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and pay attention to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. Tell the house of Israel everything you see." I saw a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was a measuring stick 10? feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall as 10? feet, and its height as 10? feet. Then he went to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate as 10? feet deep. The alcoves were 10? feet long and 10? feet wide; between the alcoves were 8? feet. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate facing inward was 10? feet. Then he measured the porch of the gate facing inward as 10? feet. He measured the porch of the gate as 14 feet, and its jambs as 3? feet; the porch of the gate faced inward. There were three alcoves on each side of the east gate; the three had the same measurement, and the jambs on either side had the same measurement. He measured the width of the entrance of the gateway as 17? feet, and the length of the gateway as 22? feet. There was a barrier in front of the alcoves, 1? feet on either side; the alcoves were 10? feet on either side. He measured the gateway from the roof of one alcove to the roof of the other, a width of 43? feet from one entrance to the opposite one. He measured the porch at 105 feet high; the gateway went all around to the jamb of the courtyard. From the front of the entrance gate to the porch of the inner gate was 87? feet. There were closed windows toward the alcoves and toward their jambs within the gate all around, and likewise for the porches. There were windows all around the inside, and on each jamb were decorative palm trees. Then he brought me to the outer court. I saw chambers there, and a pavement made for the court all around; thirty chambers faced the pavement. The pavement was beside the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement. Then he measured the width from before the lower gate to the front of the exterior of the inner court as 175 feet on the east and on the north. He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces north. Its alcoves, three on each side, and its jambs and porches had the same measurement as the first gate; 87? feet long and 43? feet wide. Its windows, its porches, and its decorative palm trees had the same measurement as the gate which faced east. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch was in front of them. Opposite the gate on the north and the east was a gate of the inner court; he measured the distance from gate to gate at 175 feet. Then he led me toward the south. I saw a gate on the south. He measured its jambs and its porches; they had the same dimensions as the others. There were windows all around it and its porches, like the windows of the others; 87? feet long and 43? feet wide. There were seven steps going up to it; its porches were in front of them. It had decorative palm trees on its jambs, one on either side. The inner court had a gate toward the south; he measured it from gate to gate toward the south as 175 feet. Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate; it had the same dimensions as the others. Its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches had the same dimensions as the others, and there were windows all around it and its porches; its length was 87? feet and its width 43? feet. There were porches all around, 43? feet long and 8? feet wide. Its porches faced the outer court, and decorative palm trees were on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps. Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side. He measured the gate; it had the same dimensions as the others. Its porches faced the outer court, it had decorative palm trees on its jambs, and its stairway had eight steps. Then he brought me to the north gate, and he measured it; it had the same dimensions as the others -- its alcoves, its jambs, and its porches. It had windows all around it; its length was 87? feet and its width 43? feet. Its jambs faced the outer court, and it had decorative palm trees on its jambs, on either side, and its stairway had eight steps. There was a chamber with its door by the porch of the gate; there they washed the burnt offering. In the porch of the gate were two tables on either side on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. On the outside of the porch as one goes up at the entrance of the north gate were two tables, and on the other side of the porch of the gate were two tables. Four tables were on each side of the gate, eight tables on which the sacrifices were to be slaughtered. The four tables for the burnt offering were of carved stone, 32 inches long, 32 inches wide, and 21 inches high. They would put the instruments which they used to slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them. There were hooks three inches long, fastened in the house all around, and on the tables was the flesh of the offering. On the outside of the inner gate were chambers for the singers of the inner court, one at the side of the north gate facing south, and the other at the side of the south gate facing north. He said to me, "This chamber which faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple, and the chamber which faces north is for the priests who keep charge of the altar. These are the descendants of Zadok, from the descendants of Levi, who may approach the Lord to minister to him." He measured the court as a square 175 feet long and 175 feet wide; the altar was in front of the temple. Then he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured the jambs of the porch as 8? feet on either side, and the width of the gate was 24? feet and the sides were 5? feet on each side. The length of the porch was 35 feet and the width 19? feet; steps led up to it, and there were pillars beside the jambs on either side.

Then he brought me to the outer sanctuary, and measured the jambs; the jambs were 10? feet wide on each side. The width of the entrance was 17? feet, and the sides of the entrance were 8? feet on each side. He measured the length of the outer sanctuary as 70 feet, and its width as 35 feet. Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance as 3? feet, the entrance as 10? feet, and the width of the entrance as 12? feetread more.
Then he measured its length as 35 feet, and its width as 35 feet, before the outer sanctuary. He said to me, "This is the most holy place." Then he measured the wall of the temple as 10? feet, and the width of the side chambers as 7 feet, all around the temple. The side chambers were in three stories, one above the other, thirty in each story. There were offsets in the wall all around to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that the supports were not in the wall of the temple. The side chambers surrounding the temple were wider at each successive story; for the structure surrounding the temple went up story by story all around the temple. For this reason the width of the temple increased as it went up, and one went up from the lowest story to the highest by the way of the middle story. I saw that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers were a full measuring stick of 10? feet high. The width of the outer wall of the side chambers was 8? feet, and the open area between the side chambers of the temple and the chambers of the court was 35 feet in width all around the temple on every side. There were entrances from the side chambers toward the open area, one entrance toward the north, and another entrance toward the south; the width of the open area was 8? feet all around. The building that was facing the temple courtyard at the west side was 122? feet wide; the wall of the building was 8? feet all around, and its length 157? feet. Then he measured the temple as 175 feet long, the courtyard of the temple and the building and its walls as 175 feet long, and also the width of the front of the temple and the courtyard on the east as 175 feet. Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side as 175 feet. The interior of the outer sanctuary and the porch of the court, as well as the thresholds, narrow windows and galleries all around on three sides facing the threshold were paneled with wood all around, from the ground up to the windows (now the windows were covered), to the space above the entrance, to the inner room, and on the outside, and on all the walls in the inner room and outside, by measurement. It was made with cherubim and decorative palm trees, with a palm tree between each cherub. Each cherub had two faces: a human face toward the palm tree on one side and a lion's face toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around; from the ground to the area above the entrance, cherubim and decorative palm trees were carved on the wall of the outer sanctuary. The doorposts of the outer sanctuary were square. In front of the sanctuary one doorpost looked just like the other. The altar was of wood, 5? feet high, with its length 3? feet; its corners, its length, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, "This is the table that is before the Lord." The outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary each had a double door. Each of the doors had two leaves, two swinging leaves; two leaves for one door and two leaves for the other. On the doors of the outer sanctuary were carved cherubim and palm trees, like those carved on the walls, and there was a canopy of wood on the front of the outside porch. There were narrow windows and decorative palm trees on either side of the side walls of the porch; this is what the side chambers of the temple and the canopies were like.

Then he led me out to the outer court, toward the north, and brought me to the chamber which was opposite the courtyard and opposite the building on the north. Its length was 175 feet on the north side, and its width 87? feet. Opposite the 35 feet that belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories.read more.
In front of the chambers was a walkway on the inner side, 17? feet wide at a distance of 1? feet, and their entrances were on the north. Now the upper chambers were narrower, because the galleries took more space from them than from the lower and middle chambers of the building. For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and upper ones. As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, it was 87? feet long. For the chambers on the outer court were 87? feet long, while those facing the temple were 175 feet long. Below these chambers was a passage on the east side as one enters from the outer court. At the beginning of the wall of the court toward the south, facing the courtyard and the building, were chambers with a passage in front of them. They looked like the chambers on the north. Of the same length and width, and all their exits according to their arrangements and entrances were the chambers which were toward the south. There was an opening at the head of the passage, the passage in front of the corresponding wall toward the east when one enters. Then he said to me, "The north chambers and the south chambers which face the courtyard are holy chambers where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings -- the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because the place is holy. When the priests enter, then they will not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without taking off their garments in which they minister, for these are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will go near the places where the people are." Now when he had finished measuring the interior of the temple, he led me out by the gate which faces east and measured all around. He measured the east side with the measuring stick as 875 feet by the measuring stick. He measured the north side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. He measured the south side as 875 feet by the measuring stick. He turned to the west side and measured 875 feet by the measuring stick. He measured it on all four sides. It had a wall around it, 875 feet long and 875 feet wide, to separate the holy and common places.

"As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern. When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design -- all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire design and all its statutes and do them. "This is the law of the temple: The entire area on top of the mountain all around will be most holy. Indeed, this is the law of the temple.read more.
"And these are the measurements of the altar: Its base is 1? feet high, and 1? feet wide, and its border nine inches on its edge. This is to be the height of the altar. From the base of the ground to the lower edge is 3? feet, and the width 1? feet; and from the smaller ledge to the larger edge, 7 feet, and the width 1? feet; and the altar hearth, 7 feet, and from the altar hearth four horns projecting upward. Now the altar hearth is a perfect square, 21 feet long and 21 feet wide. The ledge is 24? feet long and 24? feet wide on four sides; the border around it is 10? inches, and its surrounding base 1? feet. Its steps face east."

Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth."

Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. He named it "The Palace of the Lebanon Forest"; it was 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars. The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row.read more.
There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three. All of the entrances were rectangular in shape and they were arranged in sets of three. He made a colonnade 75 feet long and 45 feet wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. He also made a throne room, called "The Hall of Judgment," where he made judicial decisions. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married. All of these were built with the best stones, chiseled to the right size and cut with a saw on all sides, from the foundation to the edge of the roof and from the outside to the great courtyard. The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet. Above the foundation the best stones, chiseled to the right size, were used along with cedar. Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord's temple and the hall of the palace.

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; by knowledge its rooms are filled with all kinds of precious and pleasing treasures.

"'Sure to be judged is the king who builds his palace using injustice and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor. He says, "I will build myself a large palace with spacious upper rooms." He cuts windows in its walls, panels it with cedar, and paints its rooms red.

Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out. This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

The stone which the builders discarded has become the cornerstone.

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

But Jesus looked straight at them and said, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?

So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

"Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.read more.
The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!"

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep, and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against that house, it collapsed immediately, and was utterly destroyed!"

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,read more.
each builder's work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done.

So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,read more.
in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God's sight, you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in scripture, "Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame."read more.
So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

"O afflicted one, driven away, and unconsoled! Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli. I will make your pinnacles out of gems, your gates out of beryl, and your outer wall out of beautiful stones.

For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb!" So he took me away in the Spirit to a huge, majestic mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. The city possesses the glory of God; its brilliance is like a precious jewel, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.read more.
It has a massive, high wall with twelve gates, with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel are written on the gates. There are three gates on the east side, three gates on the north side, three gates on the south side and three gates on the west side. The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who spoke to me had a golden measuring rod with which to measure the city and its foundation stones and wall. Now the city is laid out as a square, its length and width the same. He measured the city with the measuring rod at fourteen hundred miles (its length and width and height are equal). He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits according to human measurement, which is also the angel's. The city's wall is made of jasper and the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. The foundations of the city's wall are decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls -- each one of the gates is made from just one pearl! The main street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God -- the All-Powerful -- and the Lamb are its temple.

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! Who set its measurements -- if you know -- or who stretched a measuring line across it?