HandmaidenofGod
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In light of some new members to the forum, and David Young's recent visit to an Orthodox Church, I thought it might be beneficial to explain how and why Orthodox Churches are designed.
Orthodox churches are designed in a similar fashion to the Temple of Solomon. We are told that in the Biblical Temple, the Holy of Holies was built with Cedar boards, overlaid with Gold, and had a curtain and double doors to separate it from the nave. Throughout the Temple there were Cherubim and other statues/icons... Source - 1 Kings 6, 2 Chr 3.
Here's the description of the Holy of Holies from the Bible:
Orthodox churches follow similar architecture, the iconostasis is the wall that separates the sanctuary (representing the Holy of Holies) from the nave. As in the temple, it's constructed of wood, often overlaid with gold (though not all churches can afford this), and covered in iconography (the Bible tells us the the temple had carved figures of Cherubim, palm trees and flowers). Most Orthodox churches also have a curtain as the temple did.
Orthodox churches are designed in a similar fashion to the Temple of Solomon. We are told that in the Biblical Temple, the Holy of Holies was built with Cedar boards, overlaid with Gold, and had a curtain and double doors to separate it from the nave. Throughout the Temple there were Cherubim and other statues/icons... Source - 1 Kings 6, 2 Chr 3.
Here's the description of the Holy of Holies from the Bible:
He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine. 16 He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits [j] long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.
19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. [k] He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
23 In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits [l] high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. 31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with five-sided jambs. 32 And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold. 33 In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall. 34 He also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings. 1 Kings 6:15-35

Orthodox churches follow similar architecture, the iconostasis is the wall that separates the sanctuary (representing the Holy of Holies) from the nave. As in the temple, it's constructed of wood, often overlaid with gold (though not all churches can afford this), and covered in iconography (the Bible tells us the the temple had carved figures of Cherubim, palm trees and flowers). Most Orthodox churches also have a curtain as the temple did.
