Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin described Ballin's murals in a book published in 1974:
"The frieze that runs completely around the entire interior of the Temple represents the story of the Jewish people from the time of Abraham to the discovery of America.

The frieze begins at the altar on the east side and runs from east to west. The first figure represents Abraham and five kings of his time. He is pouring water into a basin which is the symbol of hospitality. You will recall that the Bible recounts that when Abraham entertained the three strangers who came to the door of his tent, that the first mark of his hospitality was to suggest that they bathe their feet in water. This is an old Oriental custom and very appropriate in a hot desert country.

Below Abraham is a cloud representing the dust of migration; and below the cloud are depicted animals typifying the nomadic period or early Hebrew history which he represents. In the background behind the kings and to the right we see suggestion of the Euphrates River. Abraham is the father of the Hebrew people. He migrated from Ur of the Chaldees, crossing the Euphrates River to Palestine, which country, according to Hebrew tradition, God promised that his seed would inherit. Jewish tradition upholds Abraham as the patriarch as a supreme example of righteousness and as the founder of the Jewish religion. He is represented as an iconoclast. The Talmudic and Midrashic legends maintain that he destroyed the idols of his father. Thus we see that Jewish history began according to tradition with a protest against idolatry and emphasis upon faith in the one and only Spiritual God.

The second painting depicts Jacob and his sons. They are holding on to the golden tree of their heritage, which also typifies the family tree of Israel, since the twelve tribes are supposed to have been descended from Jacob and his sons. Jacob's position is at the trunk of the tree and the arms of his sons suggest the branches. The expression on the countenance of Jacob is one of resignation. In the corner on the right, one beholds a faint glimpse of Jacob's ladder reaching from earth to heaven a symbol of revelation."

Above the Altar in the Temple, Ballin depicts the story of creation in a large lunette, approximately 34 x 17 feet. The painting is entirely symbolic, with a large golden ball emitting beams of light to represent the Spirit of God that fall on two human figures representing Adam and Eve. In the frieze, however, he relates a more historical account of "the Jewish people," depicting "real" characters from the Bible. This first section of the frieze features Abraham and Jacob, both of whom are painted in a more detailed, finely drawn and realistic style. In the case of Abraham, Ballin uses his posture, his attire and his positioning to convey what Magnin describes as a tradition of Jewish religious devotion: the rejection of idolatry and emphasis on faith in "the one and only Spiritual God." Ballin had previously used female, allegorical figures to represent the values of the State in his murals at the Wisconsin State Capitol, but in the figure of Abraham, he fuses allegory and history, using this "real" character to represent both a moment in Jewish history and a value intrinsic to Jewish religious observance.

To add depth of character to the figures in this portion of the frieze, Ballin relies on strategies learned during his years as a filmmaker, particularly the use of lighting and staging techniques. To project Abraham's kindness and sincerity of belief, Ballin has painted him seated with his head down performing the act of pouring water into a basin for his three visitors to bathe their feet. Because of this body positioning, he does not appear as a powerful patriarch like the kings standing boldly behind him, but rather a humble, righteous servant of God. The influence of film can be seen even more clearly in the figure of Jacob, whose face and body are lit from an unknown light source below. The "countenance..of resignation" that Magnin identifies is created entirely by this lighting technique as it accentuates the features of his face - furrowed brow, downcast eyes, closed mouth - that are familiar and recognizable as "resignation" to the viewer. Filmmakers in the silent film era relied heavily on such lighting techniques to exaggerate the emotions of their actors because they could not use dialogue or music as in later films.

Caption from Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin's book, The Warner Murals in the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, California, published by the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 1974.