The first temple in Jerusalem was a massive and ornate structure built by King Solomon.

According to the Bible, King Solomon was the wisest and richest King ever (1 Kings 10:23). He

was able to both afford and require the best construction materials and practices of his day.

Money was no hindrance to building since he was probably equivalent to a billionaire today. It

can be seen in the book of Ezra how his riches influenced the glory of the first temple in

Jerusalem as compared to the second temple. It says in Ezra 3 after they had just finished laying

the foundation of the second temple, that as a result of seeing the foundation, the younger

Israelites celebrated the monumental moment. The older Israelites who had seen the first temple

could only cry due to the realization that this new temple would not compare in glory to the first.

 This practice of celebrating the laying of the foundation seems logical in the context of

Biblical times. The foundation was not simply a one week job where the concrete is poured by

concrete trucks or pumps. This foundation consisted of large rocks or beams put in place over a

period of months. It took quite some time just to gather the wood from Lebanon, then to cut it

and put it into place. When it was finally put in place, it was the first sign of real progress and a

great point to celebrate to keep everyone's morale high. This practice would have only applied

to large structures as opposed to typical residential homes since many of them did not even have

a foundation (Job 4:19). Construction managers could benefit from emulating this practice by

celebrating certain milestones in the construction of a building. The "drying in" of a building

may not be celebrated when constructing buildings today, but the significance of this phase of

completion is widely recognized as a key milestone accomplishment.

Walls

 Typical walls for larger buildings in Israel during the Biblical period were made of cut

stone. The interior of these walls were rarely, if ever, left in their raw state. They were covered

with a more aesthetically pleasing material such as cedar, cypress, gold, etc., or with a simple