The concept of the Mishkan is an astounding one. How can a structure of any size house Hashem in it? How can we attempt to contain the uncontainable?
Yet it symbolizes Hashgacha, involvement of Hashem in our physical world. We live in a world with physical houses in which we dwell.
This is Reuvain’s house, this is Shimon’s house,
Well, this is Hashem’s house.
This is where I dwell.
I am here.
True I am everywhere - but you will see Me here.
In the Sefer “The afternoon offering” by Chana Benjamin it expounds on the inner concept of the Mishkan.
The Mishkan is the mirror of the Shechina that is within us. reflecting the inner dwelling of our souls. Our heart is the Mishkan. We invite Him in and He will come inside our hearts.
Today, we have no Mishkan.But we have no reason to feel lost.We have the Mishkan.It is within us.The Alshich says “we should not wonder how Hashem abandoned his holy Tabernacle…because He considered the essence of the of the Mishkan to be the people (of Yisroel, whose souls serves as the palace of Hashem) and the wood and stones used to construct the building”
The purpose of the Mishkan is not to “contain” Hashem. The concept is to show us how to reveal Hashem’s presence within the constriction of physical space and physical walls - and by extension, each one of us should become a residence for the Shechina
Internally, this is another compelling reason to drive lust out of our hearts.
The embracing of the Keruvim demonstrates that in it’s proper place and time,the extremely powerful physical expression of a spiritual love is in fact a very good thing, that not only does not drive away the Shechina, but actually draws it into us, in the heart of both the husband and the wife who love each other, a physical manifestation of a spiritual love.
But when this expression is used in a way that is not Hashem’s plan for us, as He tells us clearly, that He created this drive, in addition to the chain of generations through children, it is also an expression of love of your soul to that specific soul that Hashem placed in your life to love and to bind with and to be as one with. And Hashem tells us that in any other form, as enticing as is seems, is truly unhealthy for us, and that He cannot dwell within us if this drive expands to places where He will not be. You say “not fair”. He answers back that I gave you this healthy body that allows you the enjoyment of this sexual function and I am telling you that it can be a tremendous source of pleasure and happiness but on My terms, not yours. I am telling you “Lust in your heart and I am out of here” and as we said many many times that Hashem is with you when these cravings and urges comes up to you because that is not your fault.That is not why Hashem packs His bags.He says “Good bye” only after your decision to let the lust stay because you invited it in as a long term guest, Sholom Aliechem lust, welcome welcome, come in ,make yourself comfortable, you do this insteading of forcing it out (by all the various methods discussed on this site especially the handbooks) and pleading with Hashem to keep it out so that He could come in.
It’s hard. Tell Him it’s hard for you. He knows it’s hard but He wants you to talk to Him. Ask Him to grant you the gift of the healthy expression of this drive. the way You want me to use it. But invite Him in. You can bring Him into your private office if you have one, or dining room, and talk it over with Him. Ask Him to stick around. because its rough without Him. Tell Him this lust is driving you nuts and ask Him to help you deal with it. Help me to get rid of the unhealthy elements of it, and allow me to express the healthy good expression of it that You would want me to express. Celibacy is for christian priests who end up molesting young boys because they wrongly deny themselves the healthy expression of a normal human drive. Bochurim who struggle must be assured that Hashem has intimacy as part of their life plan, and not a small insignificant part of the plan either, and by staying clean during their unmarried years ( which is made much easier by the advice here on this website especially the handbooks) will make the relationship with their future wife a much more rich and healthy and intensely felt intimacy, when the time comes,when Hashem decides that you should enter that stage in your life. Precisely because you threw out the cheap false imitation in your single years. And if you are already married, you have no idea what is enhanced, when you throw all this garbage out. Initial pain in dropping this garbage, but what you get instead is the long term deepest gift. This garbage was part of the reason that you did not see the good qualities in your wife that you could not see until now.
This is the purpose of the Mishkan. To tell us that although Hashem is Infinite, He wants us to create a “space” for Him to dwell. Even when we had a Mishkan, the primary Mishkan was within our hearts.
Especially now this is all we have.
To borrow from dear Pintele, “Bilvovi Mishkan Evneh”
Do you realize how precious it is to build a space for Hashem??
He does not need a fancy place. No fancy kitchen. He is happy with your simple abode. He is not attracted to the style that is “in.” A simple spiritual table, a few chairs, and a comforting light that you yourself lit, and that simple light becomes the true comfort that Hashem will give you as He arrives in your humble kitchen.