I'm not sure that arrangement is limited to the New Covenant. Even in the Old Testament, God dwells among His people. The tabernacle is actually a better pattern of this (being that it is covered in skins and moved with the people).
Remembering that Solomon was listed as neither a good king nor a righteous one... When you really start looking at Solomon's temple, there are some troubling things about it. For instance, it was built by Canaanites rather than Israelites. It appears to have been full of Canaanite images as well (cherubim, palm trees, the net of pomegranates). It was financed with heavy taxes on the Israelite people which were the direct cause cited by the northern tribes for their seceding from the kingdom after Solomon's death.
I have come to think that Solomon's establishment of the temple wasn't so much an attempt to do something for God, as it was an attempt to consolidate power by putting the priests under his thumb.
Jarrod
YES!!! Thank you Jarrod.
1 Kings 9:4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness,
to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them;
and this house, which I have hallowed for my name,
will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
So what did Solomon do?
1 Kings 11:6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
So God took away HIS Presence from this Temple made of wood and stone.
I think the "Seed" of David who was supposed to build the house of God was Jesus, not Solomon.
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
And again;
Is. 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall
build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called,
The repairer of the breach,
The restorer of paths to dwell in.