The Jewish leaders were spiritually blind. Although they thought of themselves as teachers, they were unable to understand God's truth. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor]])
Jesus uses this question to rebuke the Pharisees because they treated the gold as if it were more important than the temple. Alternate translation: "The temple that has dedicated the gold to God is more important than the gold!" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion]])