The Chronicler wastes no time in getting to the building of the temple. Comparison with 1 Kings reveals he leaves out some details, but this is no oversight. He has one focus on his mind and that is the temple, the place of God’s rest.
Why is this so important?
Ask any mother or father about “rest” while the children are around. It is not to be had. I know of fathers who have worked long past retirement in order to provide for children who have not been able to quite make it on their own. God’s people seem to constantly need His oversight and care. There will be no “rest” until that changes and until the will of God finally comes to pass.
Take a look at what happens in chapter two. Hiram, a foreign king, sends gifts to honor the Lord in the building of the temple. Foreign workers provide the labor for the actual building. A foreign craftsman provides direction in the most artistic and expensive part of the construction. Hiram acknowledges the God of Israel as the God who made heaven and earth, who loves Israel, and who appointed Solomon as king. Hiram may have more wood than Solomon, but Solomon has greater cachet with God. This seems to be the beginning of the fulfillment of the desire of God and other nations and peoples honor Him as the Lord of all (see chapters 8-9 where the Queen of Sheba and the daughter of the king of Egypt also come to praise God).
It will not, of course, last. The first readers know that. But they are looking back on what might have been had they honored God with their lives as these foreigners were doing.