Part 16 - The Western Wall Tunnel

March 27 - After we came down from the Temple Mount, we went on a tour of the western wall tunnel.  The entire western wall of the Temple Mount is about 1700' long.  The southern 200' or so has been escavated and is open to view.  The next 200' is where Jews congregate and pray, the so-called Wailing Wall.  Moving further north, the wall is located in a residential part of the Muslim Quarter.  When they excavated below the houses, they uncovered a section of first century paved road, an aquaduct, and water cisterns.  The wall itself was found to be undisturbed stone from the time of Herod.

About midway along the tunnel, there is a wide spot with a chair or two. This unpretentious area has been dedicated as a synagogue.  It is as close as one can get to the former Holy of Holies without being on the Temple Mount.  There was a lady sitting there, facing the wall, reading the Hebrew Scriptures and trying to get as close to God as she could

It reminded me of Hebrews 10:19: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus."  We have been given the right to enter into the very presence of God by the perfect sacrifice on Calvary.  During the entire Temple era, only one man could enter into the Holy of Holies, and only on one day of the year.  A believer in Christ has more access to the Father of Spirits than the High Priest ever had.  Besides pleading with God for our sin, we can come boldly before the Throne of Grace to obtain the mercy and help we need (Heb 4:16, see also Eph 3:12).

We can face the future with the same confidence and assurance.  1 John 4:17 speaks of us walking in love and dwelling in God, and that will give us a measure of boldness when we stand before Him on the Day of Judgement.  1 John 2:28 tells us that if we abide in Christ, we can have confidence and not be ashamed at his (second) coming.

The southern end of the western wall.  The embedded supports for the Robinson Arch can be seen in the middle right.  It was a massive stairway that provided access to the Temple Mount.

Moving north, this picture shows the Wailing Wall.  For 1900 years, this was as close as Jews could get to the Holy of Holies.  It's segregated, like the temple courts of old.  The men's side is on the left, closest to the former temple, with the women on the right.

This is getting down to the Western Wall Tunnel.  According to our guide, Jerusalem is like a layered cake.  This layer, below ground level, goes back to Roman times.  There was a place to look further down, and there was at least two stratum of buildings below this layer.  You can see none of this from ground level, not even a hint.

This shows the tunnel at the bottom of the western wall.  The stones exhibit the smoothly chiseled "frame" around the edge of the face that is typical of Herodean masonry.  One massive stone is 45' long and 9' high.  No one knows how they got it into place, but there are notches along the side that probably helped.

Inside the Western Wall Tunnel, this spot is as close as you can get to the former Temple.

This picture was at the northern end of the western wall tunnel.  The guide pointed out that we were at bedrock here.  The giant groove in the center shows how they cut stone.