Hiram was a friend of Solomon's father, David:
2Sa 5:11 ¶And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
Hiram furnished the workers and craftsmen to build David's house. He also furnished the craftsmen to build the Temple of Solomon. The Old Testament prophets and the New Testament preachers are messengers; Jesus was a carpenter; who are these masons? They were the most amazing craftsmen supplied by Hiram:
1Ki 5:17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
They were so good that they invented the ``pre-fab'' concept of construction:
1Ki 6:7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
The masons were responsible for the most significant structural parts of the construction of the temple:
1Ki 7:9 All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.
10 And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
11 And above were costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.
12 And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.
Not only did Hiram's craftsmen build Solomon's Temple, but they also built his house (castle). Just who was this Hiram, and where did he come from?
1Ki 7:13 ¶And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14 He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
Since Hiram was ``a widow's son,'' he was separated from his father. This is a type of one who is separated from God. Hiram himself was a coppersmith, like unto Alexander of the new testament:
2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
1Ti 1:20 Of whom is Hymenæus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
You see, copper and brass are counterfiets for gold:
2Ch 12:9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
10 Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house.
11 And when the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber.