The Ark of the Covenant
In 2 Maccabees it is written that prophet Jeremiah, after receiving an oracle from God, took the Ark of the Covenant, hid it in a cave, and then sealed up the entrance. Jeremiah stated that the place where the Ark is hidden, “..shall be unknown until God gathers His people again and shows His mercy.” (2 Macc. 2). It is also believed that at the universal resurrection, the Ark of the Covenant will be the first to be raised up. This could be connected to the ark seen in St. John’s vision of the Apocalypse. After the seventh trumpet, the time of the dead, that they should be judged; St. John writes, “..the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” (Rev. 11:19).
The Holy of Holies
The dimensions of the Holy of Holies are found in 2 Chronicles 3:8, where it states that the height, width, and length of the Holy of Holies were 20 cubits square, and overlaid with fine gold. When calculating the ancient measurement of a cubit to modern English measurements, we come to a unit of length around 20 inches, per one cubit. Interestingly enough, when multiplying this measurement to that of the Holy of Holies we come to a figure of roughly 33 feet! In summation we can certify that the Holy of Holies was a golden cube shaped space.
The New Jerusalem
Now in the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation, St. John writes about New Jersusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. St. John hears a great voice out of heaven saying, “…Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people…” (Rev. 21:3). This New Jerusalem and tabernacle of God has a relationship to the first temple and, more specifically, to the Holy of Holies. St. John continues, “And the city lieth foursquare…The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal…and the city was pure gold…” (Rev. 16, 18). So here we see a heavenly architecture: a golden cube if you will. This would seem to echo the golden cube of the most holy place in the temple of Solomon. Just as the golden Holy of Holies within Solomon’s temple containing the Ark of the Covenant, was the dwelling place of God on earth, so the New Jerusalem in heaven is itself a grand Holy of Holies and the golden city of the Lord Almighty and the bride of the Lamb.