The Tabernacle as Precedent for the Temple

And let them make Me a sanctuary that  I  may  dwell   among   them.                                                       Exodus 25:8

It seems odd that the first manifestation of the sanctity of place, the Mishkan  (Tabernacle) was mobile. Once the Tabernacle was set up, the position of the Holy of Holies was fixed within it, but the Mishkan  itself moved with the Children of Israel.

Our verse provides the answer: sanctity of place is intended to serve the higher level of sanctity, that of man. The purpose of the Mishkan was not to contain sanctity, but rather to be the place from which sanctity radiates to the people.

The Mishkan  serves as  a precedent for the Temple. Once the First Temple was dedicated by King Solomon, the ultimate level of sanctity of place was fixed at the Foundation Stone (according to our Sages’ tradition, the place from which God began the creation of the world, and subsequently the site of the Holy of Holies). Yet, the message of the Mishkan is that even when there is a permanence to sanctity of place, this sanctity must continue to serve as a means of imbuing man with greater sanctity. The sanctity of place achieves its ultimate purpose only when man takes advantage of it.