Exodus 27:21Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

By the time of David, it was more than four centuries old, a remarkable heritage and a cherished testament to God's miracles and blessings. However, what transpired? When the man after God's own heart, King David, brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, he constructed a new shelter for it and set the ancient one aside, likely due to its deteriorating condition, making it impractical for transport. Solomon, at the onset of his reign, still showed respect for the ancient tabernacle in Gibeon by offering a thousand burnt offerings; yet he soon erected a new temple, and since then, the original tabernacle has vanished from both the land of Israel and historical records (Ex. 27:21). One may ponder how time could destroy what was established by the direct command of the Eternal, under His special protection, intended to endure “lawfully forever in generations to come” (Ex. 27:21). How can the corruptible law of decay triumph where the supernatural law of omnipotence has intervened, bearing witness to God's wonders? Time does not respond to such inquiries and continues to assert its claims, evidenced by the subsequent downfall of Solomon's more substantial temple before the Babylonians and Romans, foretold during the reign of Joash. Ultimately, it casts a shadow over the greatest sanctuary of the Old Testament, the ark of the covenant with the divinely inscribed tablets, obscuring its location and fate. Let us cease to grapple with the passage of time and instead seek direction from the Eternal about His purposes within time.

At times, God allows the operation of the law of time and decay on corruptible matter according to His divine wisdom, righteousness, and goodness. For instance, “He does not let His reverend see decay” (Psalm 15:10), so that those who witness this incorruption may recognize the truth that “God created man without decay” (Gen. 2:23). By showcasing visible incorruption amidst decay, He highlights the invisible immortality found in eternity. Thus, faith can draw from the living vessel of grace beyond temporal existence. However, God more commonly permits the law of time to affect the visible sanctuary since its purpose is temporal, and when referred to as “eternal,” it pertains to the duration of many “ages,” rather than the strict definition of “eternity.” Why should Moses’ tabernacle be made imperishable, or Solomon’s temple indestructible when the old covenant was merely “a shadow of the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1), a shadow destined to fade with the emergence of the full light of Christ? Furthermore, even before this, the Israelites had “tempted and troubled God Most High, and kept not His sight,” prompting Him to “reject the tabernacle of Shiloh” (Psalms 77:56-60). For the same reasons, He pronounced a similar warning against Solomon's temple: “I will reject this temple, and this temple, which thou hast consecrated to My name, out of My presence” (1 Kings 9:7). Ultimately, He removed His grace and permitted it to be ravaged by the Gentiles. The fate of Christian sacred sites is similarly governed by God's providence, addressing the needs and condition of His believing and sanctified people. His profound grace does not desire to exempt the Christian temple from the temporal law of decay, ensuring that we remember its provisional nature. We must not anchor our hopes in the permanence of ancient visible sanctity but strive to realize the sanctity within ourselves, becoming “churches of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16), preparing for the higher divine service of the new heavenly Jerusalem, where the mystery-seer “saw no temple: the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb” (Rev. 21:22). If we neglect our inner sanctification through godliness and virtue, we will hear the ancient and solemn warning of the Lord: “Do not rely on yourselves in lying words, for they will not be of much help to you, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord’” (Jeremiah 7:4).