Solomon was now a great king; he was the greatest monarch of his day, and in his position he is a type of Christ in the day of His exaltation, (Matthew 26:64; 25:31; Zechariah 14:9,16 and many other Scriptures). He called upon the king of Tyre (chapter 2) to supply a man skillful to work in metal, in cloth and in wood, and to send cedar, cypress and sandal-wood trees out of Lebanon. For stone cutters, for burden bearers and for overseers in connection with the work now undertaken, Solomon took the 153,600 strangers found in the land. Thus was the great building of David's planning, and Solomon's execution put under way.