Because the word “Mishkan” (“Tabernacle”) appears twice in succession at the beginning of Parshat Pekudei – “These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of testimony” (Sh’mot 38:21) – our sages predict that in the future it would be treated like a limited “deposit” that would eventually be destroyed as a result of the sins of the nation (the word Mishkan might be related to “mashkon” – a “loan guarantee”).
This teaches us that the appearance of the Sh’khina below in our world lacks the stamina to remain constant throughout all of history. This is related to the fact that the Mishkan represents the appearance of the Divine Presence, rooted as it is in a higher realm, within the limitations of the real world.
The presence of kedusha from beyond our world in our natural world can be seen as like the planting of a species on alien soil that doesn’t suit it.
And since nature resists foreign elements, so long as history proceeds along purely natural lines, every Temple that is built must eventually be destroyed.
This state of affairs continues until the construction of the Third Temple, when the world and the Temple will be perfectly matched.
At that point, the entire world will be raised up to the status of the Temple, as is written by our sages: “Jerusalem will extend from Gat to the gates of Damascus” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah), and Eretz Yisrael will grow to encompass the entire world. Similarly, the Temple will take up the whole space of Jerusalem, as Zekharia implies (Zekaria 14:21).
When kedusha begins to spread into the world, the Temple will no longer be destroyed.
It’s possible to think of history being planned as a sequence of periods, where the Temple stands during some and is destroyed during others. This dialectical interaction between holiness and nature leads to the advancement of the world.
In this week’s Torah portion, the phrase “just as HaShem commanded Moshe” appears eighteen times. This gives us an indication of how the Temple helps to bring about the perfection of creation.
In the description of creation in B’reishit, by contrast, the phrase “And G-d said” appears nine times. It’s true that “the world was created with ten utterances” (Avot 5:1), but the first of these words, B’reishit, is ambiguous. The created world can only absorb nine of the utterances.
It is written, “The actions of righteous people are greater than the actions pertaining to heaven and the earth” (Ketubot 5a).
With respect to creation, it is written, “My hand made the foundations of the earth and My right hand measured the heavens” (Yeshayahu 48:13).
This seems to imply that the Kadosh Barukh Hu built the world using only one “hand.” But with respect to the Temple it is written, “The Temple, my Lord – Your hands built it” (Sh’mot 15:17) – with two “hands.”
In the Temple, there is a link between the “hand” that built the heavens and the “hand” that built the earth, and this shows the unity of all creation. Therefore the number of declarations is double for the Mishkan – and the phrase “just as HaShem commanded Moshe” appears eighteen times (HaRav Shlomo Goren).
From the time that the plan for building the Temple was completed, we should have been able to end the Torah. And indeed, this week’s Torah portion ends with the words, “…in front of the eyes of the entire house of Israel…” (Sh’mot 40:38). This is very similar to the words at the end of the Torah in D’varim 34:12. In fact, we might indeed have finished the Torah with the end of Sefer Sh’mot, for the Sh’khina did indeed appear below on earth.
But at the end of Sh’mot, some additional words are added: “…in all their journeys.” (Sh’mot 40:38)
Since the Temple was not brought to its final resting place, in Eretz Yisrael, perfect unity was still lacking and would only be achieved with the appearance of the Sh’khina at its ideal position in Jerusalem.
