The House of the Kohanim
The House of the Kohanim were the loging for Kohanim while they performed their services in the Temple.
The Kohanim were designated houses and chambers within the Temple area where they stayed while serving their shifts. The Kohanim were divided into 24 working divisions, known as mishmarot. Each division served in the Temple for one week at a time, twice a year, along with pilgrimage festivals. When it was their turn to serve, members of the Kohanim came to Jerusalem and stayed in areas designated for priests near or within the Temple complex. This included: chambers for sleeping and resting for priests who were on rotation or guarding the Temple at night, rooms for storing priestly garments, and preparation areas where priests would get ready for their duties, including ritual purification.
The Mikvaot
A Mikvah is a ritual immersion bath used in the Jewish tradition. There were a number of mikvaot that surrounded the Temple area, which were used by pilgrims and the Kohanim, in order to enter the Temple in a state of ritual purity.
When religious pilgrims would arrive in Jerusalem, particularly during the three major festivals that require a visit to the Holy City, they would immerse themselves in the mikvaot before ascending to the Temple courts.
Immersion in a mikveh was a regular part of the Kohanim’s preparing for sacred duties in the Temple. The Kohanim had to ensure they were ritually pure before performing the offerings or entering certain areas.
The Aron HaKodesh (Holy Ark)
In the book of Book of Exodus God commanded Moses to build a sacred cabinent which would hold the tablets of the covenant given at Mount Sinai. This Ark became the most sacred object in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. It was made of wood and covered with gold inside and outside, with rings on its sides so it could be carried with poles. On top of the Ark was the cover with two cherubim facing each other, the place where God’s presence was revealed to Israel.
The Ark originally stood in the Holy of Holies of the Mishkan and later in the Temple. According to Jewish tradition, the original Ark remains hidden when it was stored away before the destruction of the First Temple.
Today a representation of the Holy Ark is present in every synagogue and is where the Torah scrolls are kept and is typically placed on the wall facing Jerusalem. The Arl is opened during prayer services when the Torah is read or during special prayers.
The Urim and Tumim
The Urim and Tumim were connected to the breastplate of the priestly garments worn by the High Priest and used to seek divine guidance for important Torah and legal decisions. Through the plates, the High Priest could also appeal to God directly on significant leadership decisions, such as whether to go to war or how to respond to major developments. The name of the object, ‘Urim’ means light and ‘Tumim’ pure, as well as the presence of Gods name enscribed on it, represent the divine and infinite source of the message.
The exact way in which the Urim and Tumim functioned is not described in the Torah, though there have been two primary opinons. The first is that names of each of the twelve-tribes were engraved on the breastplate stones, and contained all the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. When a question was asked, certain letters would illuminate and form the divine answer. Another tradition says that the Urim and Tumim included small objects that would react in a way containing the Divine message.