So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the furnishings, did he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.
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Bede
AD 735
Silver applies to the clarity of eloquence, gold to the brilliance of wisdom and vessels generally to rational creatures; and David, Solomon’s father, sanctifies the silver when God the Father strengthens speakers with the grace of the Holy Spirit to speak the word of the gospel; he sanctifies the gold when he enlightens those endowed with natural ability by filling them with his Spirit in order to contemplate the wonders in his law; he sanctifies the vessels too when, having bestowed the grace of this Spirit on all the church’s children in general that they may love the gifts of eternal salvation, he inflames them with a desire for them. This silver, this gold, these consecrated vessels Solomon brings into the temple, when, after the universal judgment is over, our Lord brings into the joy of his heavenly kingdom all the elect. These are the company both of teachers and the rest of the faithful, and he lays up the various kinds of vessels, silver or gold, in the treasuries of the Lord’s house when he hides in the covert of his countenance away from the bustle of human beings those who have merited to enjoy the abundance of his sweetness. It is fitting that the treasuries in which the vessels of election should be hidden are many, whereas the house of the Lord in which these treasuries are is one; for on the one hand, the church in which all the elect are contained is one, however much they may differ in merits, and on the other hand, the heavenly homeland promised to all the elect is one and not of different kinds, even though, just as “star differs from star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.” Both of these things the Lord, the very judge and distributor of rewards, has shown in one sentence when he says, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” The reason why Solomon made one house of the Lord but furnished it with many treasuries to accommodate the vessels of various kinds, though it was sanctified with only one blessing, was that there is one house of the Father not made with hands that will last eternally in heaven but many mansions in it to receive all who fear him.
