תולדות

Sanctuary lineage

History here orients rather than dominates: a short road from the Garden to the House that is still awaited.

Classical interpretation

עדן

Eden

Cherubim guard the way on the east. Commentators and scholars note parallels between the Garden and the Sanctuary.

Classical interpretation

הר המוריה

Chronicles names the Temple mount Moriah; Rambam records the tradition that the altar stands where Isaac was bound.

Classical interpretation

סיני

Ramban: the glory that rested openly on Sinai rests, concealed, on the Mishkan.

Torah text

משכן

'Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.'

Halachah: Rambam

שילה

A stone house roofed with the Mishkan's curtains, for 369 years in Rambam's count.

Tanach prophecy

בית ראשון

Solomon's House in Jerusalem, with the Ark in its innermost room.

Tanach prophecy

גלות בבל

Babylon burns the House.

Tanach prophecy

בית שני

Rebuilt by the returnees; later expanded by Herod. No Ark, in rabbinic tradition.

Historical record

חורבן

Rome destroys the House in 70 CE.

Future / prophetic

בית שלישי

God 'will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for ever'.

From here the story stops being history and becomes hope. The rest of this site is about that House.