Context: Ephesians 2:20-22 concludes Paul's argument that Jews and Gentiles are now united in one body through Christ's work on the cross. After declaring that Christ "has made both groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" (v. 14) and that both have "access to the Father by one Spirit" (v. 18), Paul describes the result with temple imagery: Gentile believers are "no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone (ἀκρογωνιαίου). In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple (ναὸν ἅγιον) in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place (κατοικητήριον) for God by the Spirit." The passage is remarkable for its organic imagery: the temple is not a static structure but a living building that "grows" (αὔξει), with Christ as the cornerstone that determines the structure's alignment, apostolic testimony as the foundation, and individual believers as stones being fitted together by the Spirit.
Greek Key Terms:
OT-to-OT Development: Paul's temple imagery draws on multiple OT threads. The cornerstone language echoes Isaiah 28:16: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation" (Isaiah 28:16). The "dwelling place" (κατοικητήριον) translates the OT concept of God's מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, dwelling/tabernacle) — Ezekiel's promise that God's "dwelling place shall be with them" (Ezekiel 37:27). The inclusion of Gentiles fulfills the temple's original purpose: Solomon's dedication prayer envisioned foreigners coming to pray at the temple (1 Kings 8:41-43). What was a hope for visiting foreigners in Solomon's prayer is now full membership in the temple itself.
Connections:
Christological Connection: Ephesians 2:20-22 presents Christ as the architectural principle of the living temple. He is not merely a stone among stones but the ἀκρογωνιαῖος — the cornerstone from which the entire structure derives its alignment, integrity, and meaning. Every other stone's position is determined by its relationship to the cornerstone. This means the church's identity as temple is derivative: it is temple because it is united to Christ, who is the true temple (John 2:21).
The escalation from OT temple to the Ephesian vision is comprehensive. The stone temple was built by human labor (Solomon's construction), was ethnically exclusive (Gentiles restricted to the outer court), and was structurally static (once built, it remained as built until destroyed). The living temple is built by the Spirit ("being built together"), is ethnically inclusive (Jews and Gentiles as fellow members), and is organically growing ("the whole building is joined together and rises"). The barrier between Jew and Gentile that was architecturally expressed in the temple's "dividing wall" (v. 14) — the barrier beyond which Gentiles could not pass on pain of death — has been destroyed by Christ's cross.
The already/not-yet dimension is embedded in the verb tenses. The foundation has been laid and the cornerstone established (already). Believers "are being built together" (present passive, ongoing) into a dwelling place — the temple is not finished but growing (not yet complete). The consummation comes when the building reaches its full stature and God dwells with redeemed humanity forever (Revelation 21:3).
Connection Method(s): Typology (Direct Type, Backward-Looking) — The church built on apostles and prophets with Christ as cornerstone, growing into "a holy temple in the Lord," fulfills the physical temple's typological purpose. The connection is backward-looking: the OT temple did not explicitly anticipate being replaced by a multi-ethnic, Spirit-built living community; this identification is made retrospectively from the NT. All five criteria: correspondence (both are God's dwelling among His people), historicity (both are historical realities), escalation (from static stone to growing living community; from ethnic exclusion to inclusion; from human construction to Spirit-building), pointing-forwardness (Isaiah 28:16's cornerstone and Ezekiel 37:27's "forever" sanctuary implied something greater), retrospective interpretation (Paul explicitly identifies the church as the holy temple). Also Redemptive-Historical Progression — the text describes the current stage of temple theology: the Spirit-built, Christ-cornered community growing toward consummation.
Trajectory Table: 158 - Temple Ecclesiology (Church as God's Dwelling)