What does 1 Kings 6-7 really mean?

¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.
² The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
³ The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and its height was 120 cubits.
⁴ And for the house he made windows with recessed frames.
⁵ He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around.
⁶ The lowest storey was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.
⁷ When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.
⁸ The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.
⁹ So he built the House and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the House of beams and planks of cedar.
¹⁰ And he built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.
¹¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
¹² “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.”
¹³ And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.
¹⁴ So Solomon built the house and finished it.
¹⁵ He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
¹⁶ He also built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place.
¹⁷ The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long.
¹⁸ The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen.
¹⁹ The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
²⁰ The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar.
²¹ So Solomon overlaid the house on the inside with pure gold.
²² And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished. And the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.
²³ In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high.
²⁴ And five cubits was the length of the wings of the cherubim.
²⁵ The doors for the most holy place were made of olive wood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.
²⁶ The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub.
²⁷ He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house.
²⁸ And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
²⁹ Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.
³⁰ He also overlaid the floor of the house with gold, in the inner and outer rooms.
³¹ For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.
³² So he built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.
³³ So also he made for the entrance to the nave four-sided doorposts of olive wood
³⁴ And the two doors were of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.
³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.
³⁶ And he built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.
³⁷ In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.
³⁸ In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.
⁷ Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.
² He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
³ It was paneled with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row.
⁴ There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers.
⁵ All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.
⁶ He made the Hall of Pillars fifty cubits long and thirty cubits wide, and a porch was in front of them, and a canopy in front of them.
⁷ And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. And it was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.
⁸ His house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage.
⁹ All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court.
¹⁰ The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits.
¹¹ Now Hiram made the basins and the shovels and the bowls. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord:
¹² The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord, and the vestibule of the house.
¹³ And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.
¹⁴ He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.
¹⁵ He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.
¹⁶ He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
¹⁷ There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital.
¹⁸ So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pomegranates. And so he did for the other capital.
¹⁹ So he set the pillars at the entrance of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north.
²⁰ There were capitals on the two pillars, above the rounded projection next to the latticework.
²¹ And he set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz.
²² And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.
²³ Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
²⁴ And under the brim of it round about there were knops, compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea all around. The knops were cast in two rows when it was cast.
²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward.
²⁶ It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.
²⁷ He made ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
²⁸ And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the panels, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
²⁹ And on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. Upon the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work.
³⁰ And each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each.
³¹ Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit from it. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. And also on its opening there were engravings, and their panels were square, not round.
³² And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
³³ The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.
³⁴ And there were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands.
³⁵ He set up the stands on the right side of the house, and when he had set up the sea on the right side of the house, the south side of the house was finished.
³⁶ For on the plates of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around.
³⁷ He made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high.
³⁸ He made ten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands.
³⁹ He set the basin between the sea and the landings; at the southeast corner.
⁴⁰ Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord:
⁴¹ The two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars;
⁴² the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks, two rows of pomegranates for each network to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars;
⁴³ And the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands;
⁴⁴ and the one sea, twelve oxen underneath it.
⁴⁵ and the pots, the shovels, and the basins. All these vessels that Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord were of burnished bronze.
⁴⁶ In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
⁴⁷ Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained.
⁴⁸ Solomon also made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence,
⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn before the inner sanctuary according to the rule;
⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple.
⁵¹ Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.