Looking at this passage in its context, we may start with 1 Corinthians 3:1-8; there Paul teaches us that we should trust in the Lord and not in the human instruments through whom he chooses to work in our lives. Paul uses an agricultural metaphor to get across his point.

In verse 9, he changes the metaphor from one of agriculture -- "you are God's field" -- to one of architecture -- "you are . . . God's building." Also, he contrasts those through whom God chooses to work -- "we are God's fellow workers" -- with those in whom the work is done -- "you are God's field, God's building."

In verse 10, Paul talks about the work that he does as a "an expert builder" of the Temple. (Cf. my brief article, "Does God Want the Temple Rebuilt?" and Edmund P. Clowney's eloquent "The Final Temple," Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 35, Fall 1972, Page 156.) Of course, Paul is not only a builder of the Temple, he is also a part of the Temple, one of its "living stones," to use Peter's analogy. (Cf. 1 Peter 2:5, "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.") Two temples came before this one:

The First Temple was completed by Solomon in 966 B.C. and destroyed in 586 B.C. Like the Tabernacle before it, it was immediately filled with the Shekinah Presence of God:

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. (2 Chronicles 7:1, 2)

Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:33-35)

The Second Temple was completed in 516 B.C., over twenty years after the Exile ended. Desecrated under Antiochus Epiphanes and cleansed in 165 B.C., it underwent massive remodeling beginning in 19 B.C., under Herod the Great, but it remained the Second Temple. There is no record of any kind of Shekinah Glory coming on it, and tradition tells us that the Ark of the Covenant was lost during the Exile and never inside the Holy of Holies of the Second Temple. To those who had seen the First Temple, the Second seemed to be but a paltry imitation, but Haggai foretold:

Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? . . . This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty . . . 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty. (Haggai 2:3-9)

The Second Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, on the ninth day of the Jewish month Ab, the same day of the same month as the destruction of the First Temple. How was Haggai's prophecy fulfilled? Malachi gave the answer: '"Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.' (Malachi 3:1)

The Lord Jesus himself was anointed with the Shekinah Glory of God:

And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them . . . Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" (Mark 9:1-7)

To Be Continued