On the ASOR blog, Hannah K Harrington, Chair of the Department of Biblical and Theological Studies at Patten University. discusses the Temple Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scroll discusses the 2nd Temple (built by Nehemiah).
The Temple Scroll has the temple’s dimensions at approximately the size of the city of Jerusalem, saying that the outer court of the temple comprised at least the city itself. She notes from other concepts that the power and holiness of the temple even reached out further to all of Israel’s cities, as the people had to live the laws of purification throughout the land.
While one had to be holy to enter into the temple, the temple also had the power to emanate holiness out to all the people, placing them in God’s presence, even if indirectly.
For Latter-day Saints, we can appreciate this concept, as our local chapels are often the place where we discuss the blessings of modern temples, bishops interview members for worthiness, and we partake of the Sacrament to renew covenants of holiness. In our homes, many LDS have a photo of a temple(s) to focus the family on the House of God. The temple’s holiness, then, emanates out to our homes and chapels, making us more holy and prepared to be in the presence of God, whether in the temple itself, or in another holy place sanctified by the power of the temple.