Moriah, the place where Abraham took his son for sacrifice. It was there that the angels came down and gave Abraham a goat to use for sacrifice instead. This appearance by the angels is a hierophany, an appearance of the sacred. So by being on this spot and over the foundation stone, their center of the world, the Temple would already be acknowledged as sacred by Eliade. Before he built the Temple Solomon had a theophany, an appearance of god. From this theophany he was given the task to build the Temple by God, "he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." When the Temple was completed there was a dedication ceremony attended by all. The priests carried the Ark into the Temple and deposited it in the Holy of Holies. "The biblical account states that the glory of the Lord filled the building in the form of a cloud." This kratophany, a manifestation of power, is only one of the many acts of a hierophany, appearance of the sacred, which established the Temple as sacred.
For Eliade time spent in ritualistic activities in order to commune with a higher power can be considered sacred time. This concept of sacred is repeatable, cyclical, and circular. For the Jews their form of communication with God was through the Temple priest and through sacrifice. The Living World Bible recorded that, "Two important function took place there; the daily sacrifices for sin, and the once a year Day of Atonement. Each one expressing the idea of either individual or national sins that need God's mercy and forgiveness." These two rituals fall into Eliade's category of sacred time. The Day of Atonement happens one time every year always on the same day and at the same time. Following Eliade's rules for sacred time. The Priest was the only person allowed in the Temple and only on the Day of Atonement, the holiest day for the Jews. On this day the priest would ask God for forgiveness for all the Jews sins for that year.
