The tabernacle pictures the incarnate Son walking with us; the temple invites us into God’s throne room.
The next difference between the tabernacle and the temple? The dimensions, reflecting the distinct purposes of the two structures. We read, “The house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits” (1 Ki 6:2). This was double the floor dimensions of the tabernacle, and such a size (let alone the weight of the materials) would make moving it through the desert impossible. This was especially true because “the king commanded them to quarry large stones…to lay the foundation of the temple” (5:17). Walking through the Rabbinical Tunnel under Jerusalem today, you can see some temple foundation stones. One monolithic ashlar, called the Western Stone, measures 44.5 ft long and 11 ft high. It’s been determined to be 6–8 ft deep and to weigh between 270 and 330 tons! But that’s nothing compared to the Foundation Stone on which our eternity rests: “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:20-21). Therefore, as to the mirror-image purposes expressed by the tabernacle and the temple, we might say this. The tabernacle showed God drawing near to travel with His people: “There I will meet with the children of Israel…And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them” (Ex 29:43, 46). But the temple was designed to stay put! Here His people were invited to draw near to Him: “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you…keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you…And I will dwell among the children of Israel” (1 Ki 6:12-13). Welcome!