"The cosmos is a temple"-John H. Walton

In some of the ancient near eastern text, a temple is built as a conclusion to cosmic creation. But typically these are distinct through related acts. The natural association between them is that the creative acts are expressions of authority, and the the temple is the place where authority will continue to be exercised. Beyond this textual and ideological association, we can see that texts like creation and temple building by noting the absence of temples along with the absence of cosmic order as they recount the acts of creation. Thus the absence of  temple was sometimes part of the description of the pre-cosmic condition.

... Across the ancient Near East the temples were considered primordial and that cosmic origins at times were defined in terms of a temple element. It is important to reiterate that I am not suggesting that the Israelites are borrowing from these ancient literatures. Instead the literatures show how people thought in the ancient world, and as we examine Genesis, we can see that Israelites thought in similar ways.
    We can draw the connection between temple and cosmos more tightly when we observe that temples in the ancient world were considered symbols of the cosmos. The biblical text as well as the literature of the ancient Near East makes it clear. Ancient Near Eastern evidence comes from a variety of cultures and sources.

Both Sumerian and Egyptian texts identify the temple as the place from which the sun rises: "Your interior is where the sun rises, endowed with wide-spreading plenty." The egyptian temples served as models of the cosmos in which the floor represented the earth and the ceiling represented the sky. Columns and wall decorations represented plant life. Jan Assmann, presenting this imagery, concludes that the temple "was the world that the omnipresent god filled to it limits." Indeed, the temple is, for all intents and purposes, the cosmos. This interrelationship makes it possible for the temple to be the center from which order in the cosmos in maintained.

In the biblical text the descriptions of the tabernacle and temple contain many transparent connections to the cosmos. This connection was explicitly recognized as early as the second century A.D. in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus. who says of the tabernacle: "every one of these objects is intended to recall and represent the universe." In the outer courtyard were representations of various aspects of cosmic geography. Most important are the water basin, which 1 Kings 7:23-26 designates "sea," and the bronze pillars of the earth. The horizontal axis in the temple was arranged in the same order as the vertical axis in the cosmos. From the courtyard, which contained the elements outside the organized cosmos (cosmic waters and pillars of the earth), one would move into the organized cosmos as he entered the antechamber. Here were the Menorah, the Table of Bread and the incense alter. In the Pentateuch's descriptions of the tabernacle, the lamp and its olive oil are provided for "light" (especially Ex 25:6; 35:14; Num 4:9) The word for light is the same word used to describe the celestial bodies in day four (rather than calling them sun and moon). As the Menorah represented the light provided by God, the "bread of the Presence" (Ex 25:30) represented food provided by God. The altar of incense provided a sweet-smelling cloud across the face of the veil that separated the two chambers. If we transpose from the horizontal axis to the vertical, the veil separated the earthly sphere, with its functions, from the heavenly sphere, where God dwells. This latter was represented in the holy of holies, where the footstool of the throne of God (the ark) was placed. Thus the veil served the same symbolic function as the firmament. To review then, the courtyard represented the cosmic spheres outside of the organized cosmos (sea and pillars). The antechamber held the representation of lights and food. The veil separated the heavens and earth- the place of God's presence from the place of human habitation.
     Scholars have also recognized that the temple and tabernacle contain a lot of imagery from the Garden of Eden. They note that gardens commonly adjoined sacred pace in the ancient world. Furthermore the imagery of fertile waters flowing from the presence of the deity to bring abundance to the earth is well-known image.

"The garden of Eden is not viewed by the author of Genesis simply as a piece of Mesopotamian farmland, but as an archetypal sanctuary, that is a place where God dwells and where man should worship him. Many of the features of the garden may also be found in later sanctuaries particularly the tabernacle of Jerusalem temple. These parallels suggest that the garden itself is understood as a sort of sanctuary."

So the waters flowing through the garden in Genesis 2 are paralleled by the waters flowing from the temple in Ezekial 47:1-12(cf. Ps 46:4; Zech 14:8; Rev 22:1-2). This is one of the most common images in the iconography of the ancient world. Consequently we may conclude that the Garden of Eden was sacred space and the temple/tabernacle contained imagery of the garden and the cosmos. All the ideas are interlinked. The temple is a microcosm, and Eden is represented in the antechamber that serves as sacred space adjoining the Presence of God as an archetypal sanctuary.
     From the idea that the temple was considered a mini cosmos, it is easy to move to the idea that the cosmos could be viewed as a temple. This is more difficult to document in the ancient would because of the polytheistic nature of their religion. If the whole cosmos were viewed as a single temple, which god would it belong to? Where would temples of the other gods be? Nevertheless it can still be affirmed that creation texts can and do follow the model of temple-building texts, in this way at least likening the cosmos to a temple.
     In the OT, polytheism would not interfere with the association of cosmos and temple, and indeed the connection is made. Isaiah 66:1-2 is the clearest text.

This is what the Lord says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the Lord.

Here we can see the elements of a cosmos-sized temple, a connection between temple and rest, and a connection between creation and temple. This in itself is sufficient to see that the cosmos can be viewed as a temple. That is precisely what we are proposing as the premise of Genesis 1: that it should be understood as an account of functional origins of the cosmos as a temple. Other passages in the OT that suggest the cosmos be viewed as temple include 1 Kings 8:27, where in his prayer dedicating the temple, Solomon says, "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple that I have built?" In another, Isaiah 6:3, the seraphim chant, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory." The "glory" that the earth is full of is the same as that which comes and takes up residence in the holy of holies in Exodus 40:34.

1. In the Bible and in the ancient Near East the temple is viewed as a microcosm.

2. The temple is designed with the imagery of the cosmos.

3. The temple is related to the functions of the cosmos.

4. The creation of the temple is paralleled to the creation of the cosmos.

5. In the Bible the cosmos can be viewed as a temple.

     When this information is combined with the discoveries of the last chapter- that deity rest in a temple, and that therefor Genesis 1 would be views as a temple text- we gain a different perspective on the nature of the Genesis creation account. Genesis 1 can now be seen as a creation account focusing on the cosmos as a temple. It is describing the creation of the cosmic temple with all of its functions and with God dwelling in its midst. This is what makes fat seven so significant, because without God taking up his dwelling in its midst, the (cosmic) temple does not exist. The most central truth to the creation account is that this world is a place God's presence. Though all of the functions are anthropocentric, meeting the needs of humanity, the cosmic temple is theocentric, with God's presence serving as the defining element of existence. This represents a change that has taken place over the sevens days. Prior to day one, God's spirit was active over the nonfunctional cosmos; God was involved but had not yet taken up his residence. The establishment of the functional cosmic temple is effectuated by God taking up his residence on day seven. This gives us a before/after view of God's role."

(Taken from "The lost world of Genesis One" by John H. Walton. Proposition 8: The Cosmos is a Temple. pages 78-85.

This video will get you in the ballpark with the position that John Walton so vigorously proposes. The bibles narrative, along side ancient cosmology, explains functional origins, not material origins.